To Teach a Fox Remake
by Alpha142
Summary: Naruto has been promoted to Chunin, and Tsunade wants to give him some experience as a team leader. So she sends Naruto and Hinata on a C rank mission, to a resort town two days walk from Konoha, to investigate some disappearances. OC-less version
1. Chapter 1:  Tsunade the Matchmaker

**To Teach a Fox Remake Ch 1: Tsunade the Matchmaker  
**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Notes: This story takes place about three months after Naruto returned from training. The Akatsuki have not attacked Gaara yet, so Naruto stayed in the Leaf Village. Naruto was placed on a team with two other genin to take the Chunin exam, and they all passed. All the characters are wearing what they usually are in the manga and anime.

I had couple of people tell me that my OC was driving people away from my story, so I went back and reread what I had written so far. Because of that, I have to agree with them. He just doesn't come across like I wanted him to, so I took last week off to think about what I should do. I decided that I would redo my first couple chapters, and then let my readers choose which version they wanted me to continue. So, here is the combined first and second chapter of 'To Teach a Fox' without my OC.

* * *

Tsunade was sitting at her desk, very busy with her mid-morning 'inspection' of classified papers when Shizune came into the room carrying another stack of paperwork. The assistant's normally cheerful demenor slipped slighlty when she saw that her mentor was once again sleeping instead of doing work. She sighed as she walked over to the Hokage's desk.

'Every time I leave the room she finds some way to put off doing this paperwork. Perhaps I should start using shadow clones to keep her on track?' The jonin mused as she sat the heavy stack of papers down on the desk with a light thud. Shizune glanced down at the other occupant in the room, hoping the noise would waker her up. While the blond's face did scrunch up slightly at the noise, she made no other indication that she was going to wake up.

Mentally sighing, she walked around the desk and started to lightly shake her mentor. "Tsunade-sama. Wake up, Tsunade-sama. You still have some paperwork to do."

The Hokage grumbled a little, but still didn't wake up. The med-nin sighed out loud this time. 'Where's Naruto when you need him? He could wake her up in no time.'

Not able to think of a better solution, Shizune took a step back and whispered, "Free sake!"

"Sake?" Tsunade's head shot up and she looked around the office for the aforementioned drink, but a paper still clinging to her face after her long and through 'inspection' was blocking her view of half of the room. It didn't take her long to figure out what had happened after spotting Shizune in the corner of her eye.

Annoyed, she peeled the paper off of her face, sat back in her chair, and glared at her now smiling assitant. "Don't trick me like that, Shizune. You know I don't like being interrupted while I'm inspecting papers."

"I know, Tsunade-sama, but you have a lot of paperwork to do. And you still have to hand out a few more missions for the day. You can take a nap after all of that is finished." Shizune responded, unfazed by her mentor's glare, as she started to walk towards the door. "I have to go sort through some more reports. No sake or napping until all of that paperwork is done."

The Sanin grumbled as Shizune walked out of the room. "I never would have taken this job if I had known about all of this paperwork."

She sighed and glanced at the mounds of paperwork cluttering the top of her desk. 'I'm going to need a drink to finish all of this,' she thought as she reached for the bottle of sake hidden in her desk. When her hand reached the secret stash she found that it was suspiciously empty of the sake bottle, and in its stead was a piece of paper.

"What the?" She pulled out the paper to read it.

'_Nice try, Tsunade-sama, now get back to work' -Shizune _

Even more annoyed than before, the Hokage crumpled up the note and threw it violently across the room. "Damn it, Shizune!"

Not caring what happened to it, she angrily sat back in her chair, muttering curses, and roughly snatched a paper from one of the stacks. She began skimming the paper in disinterest, but that changed when a thought crossed her mind. She furrowed her brow in thought as she began scrutinizing the paper. 'This isn't a high level mission request, but it would be great practice for Naruto now that he's a Chunin. And it would get him out of my hair for a while.' Liking the idea, Tsunade scanned her desk for the ninja roster. 'Now I just have to decide who to send with him.'

Finding the roster under an overflow of papers, she flipped it open and began perusing through it to see who was still in the village. The first page she stopped on was the first of the Konoha eleven to be promoted to Chunin. 'It would probably be a good idea to assign people Naruto is familiar with and that have experience in leadership. Shikamaru would be perfect for this, but his team just left for a mission today.'

The Hokage continued flipping through the pages until Hinata's page caught her eye. 'Poor girl, I don't think Naruto will ever figure out that she likes him.' She started to turn the page but then turned her mouth up into a sinister smile.

'This mission is most likely going to take the better part of two weeks, and it's in a prominent vacation town. If I send them both on this mission, I might just be able to get these two together.' She started chuckling evilly as she snapped her fingers. A recently promoted Chunin poked his head in the room.

"Your orders, Tsunade-sama," asked the brown haired Chunin.

"Find Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga, and tell them to be in my office in one hour for a mission briefing!" Ordered the Hokage as she swiveled her chair around to face the window and started laughing maniacally.

"Of course, Tsunade-sama," he said as he left the room.

'I hate it when she does that. It gives me the creeps,' thought the Chunin as he began his search for the other new Chunin and the Hyuga heiress.

'Naruto is probably still asleep, so he shouldn't be hard to find. After I wake him up, I can look for Hinata.' The teen exited the Hokage's tower and started walking towards Naruto's apartment. He stopped suddenly, in the middle of the street, and sighed.

'I can't believe I forgot about clones.' He quickly signed and watched as a clone popped into existence. The clone nodded at him and took off to find Hinata and tell her about the mission.

'Well, that speeds things up.' He put his hands in his pockets and continued down the busy road towards Naruto's apartment.

Already knowing the way, he arrived quickly and made his way up to the apartment door. The Chunin knocked on the door and waited for an answer. When he didn't receive one, he continued knocking.

After five minutes of constant knocking, the teen started to get worried that he had been wrong. 'Is already up and training?'

The teen shook his head at the thought. 'No, he isn't the type of person to be up early if he doesn't have to be. How am I going to get him to wake up? I can't just sit out here and wait for him to wake up on his own, and I'm not going to break into his apartment just to tell him this.'

He crossed his arms and stood in front of the apartment door trying to think of a way to complete his assignment. After a minute of thinking he smiled and signed.

Another shadow clone popped into existence and turned to the messenger. The Chunin pulled out his wallet and handed some money over to the clone. The clone nodded and took off down the road towards its objective.

After putting his wallet back in his pocket, he smiled and started back towards the Hokage's tower. 'I think that my clone can handle it from here. Time to see what Lady Tsunade wants me to do now.'

* * *

Naruto was woken from his dreams of ramen by the sound of constant knocking on his apartment door. Not wanting to end the amazing dream, he grumbled, rolled over in his bed and promptly fell back to sleep. A few minutes later Naruto caught whiff of something that made him forget about his dream and sit up on his bed.

The blond-headed teen detangled himself from his blankets and stood. His mind was still in a daze from just waking up from a deep sleep as he started shuffling towards the apartment door. The only thing going through his mind was that he had to get to that wonderful smell.

Naruto soon made it to the door and yanked it open to see one of the people he had taken the Chunin Exams with, standing there with a bowl of Ichiraku ramen in his hands.

"Good morning!" Wolf said as Naruto snatched the bowl of ramen from his hands and proceeded to inhale it at an impossibly fast pace. Wolf chuckled slightly at the sight. 'That worked out better than I thought! And to think I wasted all that time on knocking.'

Now slightly more awake after eating his morning ramen, Naruto looked at Wolf. "Thanks for the ramen, but what are you doing here?"

"Be in the Hokage's office forty-five minutes from now for a mission briefing. See you later!" The clone then waved and popped out of existence after completing its orders.

Naruto stood in the doorway looking blankly at the place Wolf's clone had disappeared. "Baa-chan wants to see me?" Naruto grinned and went back into his apartment. "I bet it's a really dangerous mission that only I can do."

After quickly getting dressed and brushing his teeth, Naruto glanced at the clock. He had thirty-eight minutes left before he had to be in Tsunade's office. His smile widened.

"That's plenty of time for me to stop and get some more ramen." He set off for his favorite restaurant, all the while happily chanting 'Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!' in his mind.

* * *

The clone sent to find and inform Hinata of the mission was leaving the Hyuga compound. He was having a hard time doing his job. "I've already searched the Hyuga compound and Team eight's training ground. Where else could she be?"

As he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, he spotted Hinata coming out of a shop further down the road. Wolf's clone smiled and jumped into a tree next to the shop.

* * *

Hinata was having a very good day so far. As had become routine for her, she had woken up extremely early in the morning to get in some extra training before she had to join her team. While training in the east courtyard of the Hyuga complex, the heiress had quite the surprise.

(**Flashback to early morning training**)

A mass of water slammed into the pavement, sending the liquid everywhere. Hinata frowned slightly in disappointment with herself as she looked at the spot where the water had fallen. 'I almost had it that time, too. Maybe I'm not putting enough enough chakra into it?'

Knowing she would have to be leaving soon, the heiress glanced at the clock on the far wall. 'I only have twenty minutes, but Naruto wouldn't let this time go to waste.'

Her determination building at the thought of the energetic blond, Hinata began focusing her chakra into her stomach. She added more and more, while winding it tighter and tighter. 'Now!'

Her Byakugan flared to life in an instant as she flashed through signs. 'Water Dragon's Defense!'

She spat out a large amount of water that quickly formed a wall in front of her. Hinata smiled as happiness and a sense of accomplishment swelled up inside of her. She had just completed the hardest water jutsu she had been trying to learn.

Her joy was short lived, however, as her Byakugan caught sight of someone watching her from the hall. Dread filled the heiress as she released her bloodline and her jutsu. The water came crashing down onto the pavement once more, splashing her legs. Hinata ignored it as she turned to face the person.

She nervously bowed. "O-oto-san."

Hiashi didn't make any indication that he saw the bow. "What was that jutsu, Hinata?"

The heiress stood, but her eyes stayed locked with the ground. "It i-is called W-water D-dragon's Defense, Oto-san."

The clan head's eyebrow arched ever so slightly in surprise. "Where did you learn it?"

"F-from a scroll a f-friend let m-me borrow."

"I see," Hiashi said before turning to leave. "Excellent work, Hinata. Elemental training will serve you well."

She let a small smile find it's way onto her face as the clan head walked away. "Thank you, Oto-san."

(**End Flashback**)

After quickly cleaning up, the lavender eyed teen had left to meet up with her team.

(**Flashback to team training**)

"Since the Hokage isn't handing out missions right now, why don't we have a team spar?" Kurenai said as she looked at her students.

"Alright! We'll defiantly win this time! Right, Akamaru?" Kiba said, jumping off of his dog companion. Akamaru agreed with a resounding bark. Kiba easily fell into his standard fighting stance while Akamaru tensed, ready to attack at any moment.

Shino nodded stoically as he slowly released some of his swarm into the surrounding trees and grass to use as traps.

"Y-Yes, sensei." Hinata was slightly nervous about the spar, but she quickly pushed her nervousness aside and fell into her gentle fist stance. "Byakugan!" Her bloodline ability flared to life.

Kurenai nodded in satisfaction and jumped into a tree to watch the spar from a safe distance. She had learned a long time ago that Kiba tended to be a little overzealous in his attacks, and, as a result, was not always able to stop in time if someone other than his target got in his way.

Once Kurenai was situated in her tree, she started the spar. "Begin!"

Kiba made the first move. He crouched down on all fours while his nin-dog jumped on his back. There was a plume of smoke and a second Kiba seemed to appear out of where Akamaru used to be.

"Fang over Fang!" Wasting no time, the Inuzuka and Akamaru shot towards Shino, spinning so quickly that they looked like flying drills.

The Aburame dodged the attack by quickly diving behind a rock and then replacing himself with a log.

Akamaru's drill ripped through the small rock with little trouble and turned to the tree where the teen had escaped to.

Shino released some more of his swarm to try to stop the canine's attack. The insects swarmed the mini-tornado of claws and fangs and slowed it down enough for the insect handler to jump out of the tree.

Just as Shino landed, he was rammed by Kiba's attack. He received a flurry of scratches as the force behind the attack threw him into a tree.

Kiba stopped spinning and yelled in victory. "Yeah, great job Akamaru! He didn't see my attack coming! SHI-"

Just as Akamaru had landed next to his master, the Shino that had been drilled into the tree dissolved into parasitic insects and flew angrily at them.

At the same time, the real Shino launched another wave of insects at the pair from the tree he was hiding in and commanded his remaining insects to attack from their hiding places in the grass.

Kiba and Akamaru once again launched into their signature attack and blew through the swarm of beetles. They turned their attack on the tree Shino was in.

The insect master speedily jumped to another tree just as the feral teen drilled through his previous tree.

The nin-dog had diverted his attack at the last second and had followed Shino to the other tree.

Shino tried to dodge, but was knocked to the ground as the branch underneath him was shattered by the onslaught. The insect master twisted in midair and tried to land on his feet, but was met with a fist to the face, courtesy of Kiba.

The Aburame slammed into the trunk of a tree, and called on his beetles to protect him from the feral teen's attacks.

As Kiba was trying to land a shuriken on Shino through his insects, Akamaru drilled through the tree at Shino's back and grazed Shino's left side.

The insect handler had shifted to the right at the last second, but he had still taken a major blow. He was winded and didn't have a chance to recover, because Kiba was right on top of him with a kunai to his neck.

Shino knew when he was beaten and forfeited the match. "You have gotten better Kiba. I forfeit."

Kiba grinned and helped Shino up. He then turned to face the young woman.

Shino gathered his swarm and jumped up, into the trees, to join Kurenai.

"Alright! Now we only have to take down Hinata. Ready, Akamaru?" The canine landed next to his master and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, Hinata, you better be ready because here we come! Fang over Fang!" Kiba and Akamaru began spinning violently and rocketed at Hinata.

The Hyuga watched as the pair got closer, while preparing herself to unveil her new jutsu. 'Stay calm, Hinata, you can do this! You performed it perfectly this morning, and you can do it again now. Just focus!'

Hinata took a deep breath and concentrated. In an instant, she created plate-sized shields of water on her hands and braced herself for the impact.

As the 'drills' closed in, the Hyuga heiress stepped forward and gracefully deflected the attacks away with the water.

Recovering quickly from the unexpected defense, Akamaru stopped spinning and turned around to find the lavender clad ninja already in front of him.

"Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!" Hinata announced as she began systematically shutting down her opponent's access to chakra. In an instant, the flurry of precise jabs was over, and the nin-dog fell to the ground whimpering, his transformation long disrupted.

She silently apologized to Akamaru before turning to face her last teammate.

Kiba had just recovered from being thrown off course by the strange water jutsu when he heard Hinata announce her attack. He turned around just in time to see his companion fall to the ground, unable to fight. "Akamaru!"

The Inuzuka growled in irritation and launched some shuriken at the Hyuga before beginning to spin once more. "Tunneling Fang!"

She easily deflected the shuriken and gathered another set of water shields.

Preparing for the attack, the heiress put both of her hands in front of her and gathered chakra in her stomach. She released the built up chakra and spat out a huge volume of water. Connecting with the shields in her hands, the water formed a solid wall in front of the young Hyuga.

Kiba smirked when he saw it was only water and continued on his path. His smirk faded when he struck the wall, only to dig in about half way and then come to a complete stop. The displaced water surrounded his body and seemed to solidify like concrete. He began to panic while Hinata dropped the unneeded parts of the wall.

Kurenai's eyes widened slightly as she watched the fight. 'When did she learn such a powerful water jutsu?'

"Please surrender, Kiba-kun. I don't want to hurt you." Hinata said softly, as she fell into a perfect Gentle Fist stance.

Kiba could only nod due to shock and the water covering his mouth. The timid ninja smiled kindly and stood as she released the remaining part of the water wall.

The feral team-member landed on his feet and looked over at Hinata. "Dang, when did you learn that, Hinata?"

"Yes, I am curious about your new jutsu as well." Shino said as he and Kurenai jumped down to join the other members of the team. Akamaru slowly made his way over after recovering some feeling in his body.

Hinata squirmed slightly and looked down from all the attention, but she quietly responded to her teammates. "I've been p-practicing it for two months now. I just perfected it this morning."

"That jutsu was awesome Hinata! I didn't stand a chance against it, and you didn't even need hand signs!" Kiba exclaimed as he grinned at Hinata.

"Yes, that was very well planned out and executed," Shino said as he nodded in agreement with his teammate's statements.

The lavender eyed ninja fidgeted a bit more under the praise, but she was happy to have everyone proud of her achievement.

"So, what's it called?" Kiba asked.

Hinata looked up at her team. "It's called Water Dragon's Defense".

"That's an interesting jutsu Hinata. Why don't we call it a day? That was a rough spar, and I think that everyone could use a break. Meet back here at the same time tomorrow." Kurenai said as she studied the indigo haired girl.

"Cool, so when did you s-," Kiba started, but was cut off by Shino.

"We will be here and ready for training tomorrow, Kurenai-sensei." Shino then put his hand on Kiba's shoulder and started dragging him away from the training grounds.

Kiba was caught off guard by the action, but he soon recovered and yelled at his friend. "Hey! Shino let me go! I just want to stay and ask Hinata about her new jutsu. SHINO!"

Kurenai watched the scene with some amusement, while concern and confusion flashed across Hinata's face. Akamaru wagged his tail happily and followed his master and the bug tamer.

Once Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru were out of sight, the Jonin turned to the Hyuga heiress and began questioning her about the jutsu. "That was an amazing jutsu Hinata, and if you don't mind I would like to know where you learned it."

Hinata's smile slipped as she looked down at the ground again. "I s-should have told you earlier, Kurenai-sensei. I-I'm sorry."

"Hinata, I am not worried about that. That was an amazing jutsu, and I know you worked very hard on it. I am very proud of you, and I just want to know where you learned it so I can see if there is a way I can help you. I don't know many water jutsu, but I could always get one of the other Jonin to help you."

The heiress looked up at Kurenai and smiled slightly. "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei. I l-learned this jutsu from a scroll a friend gave me, but I have learned almost all of the j-jutsu on it."

She looked down at the ground and almost started poking her index fingers together, but stopped herself at the last second.

Hinata had gotten over most of her nervous habits, but they still appeared when she was the center of attention, when she asked for a favor, and, especially, when she was around a certain blond.

"Would you like me to get you another water jutsu scroll to study?" The Jonin asked knowingly as she looked at her favorite student. Kurenai knew it was wrong to favor one student over another, but it was so hard when she knew what Hinata had been through in her life.

The Hyuga heir shyly nodded her head, and Kurenai smiled. "Alright, I'll get a scroll for you as soon as I can. Now, why don't you go enjoy the rest of your day off?"

"Thank you, Sensei!" Hinata bowed and started walking back towards town.

(**End Flashback**)

After leaving the training grounds, Hinata had stopped at her favorite bakery to get some cinnamon rolls to celebrate. Just as she was about to start eating, a figure dropped out of the tree next to the bakery. She turned and smiled at the person who had given her the water jutsu scroll. "Hello, Wolf-kun!"

Wolf smiled and he walked over to Hinata.

"Hey, Hinata! How has your day been?" Wolf questioned as he motioned for her to continue walking.

The indigo haired ninja's smile widened at the memory of her day so far. "I mastered Water Dragon's Defense, and used it to defeat Kiba-kun in a team spar!"

The messenger smiled. "That's great! I knew that you would be able to master those techniques in no time!"

Hinata's smile widened again. "Thank you for the scroll, Wolf-kun. I will return it to you soon."

"No problem!" Wolf nodded and then he turned his mind back to his mission. "Oh, Hinata, you need to be in the Hokage's office in thirty minutes."

Hinata looked over at her friend. "I have a mission?"

"Yep, I've already told Naruto about the mission, and it looks like it will just be you two. Well, now that my job is done, I'm going to release myself. See you later, Hinata!" Wolf's clone waved and released himself with a pop.

"N-Naruto-kun is going to b-be the only other person on the m-mission?" Hinata asked herself breathlessly as she tried to contain her happiness and nervousness.

It took a few minutes for the Hyuga heiress to start back on her way home to clean up before heading to the Hokage's tower.

While eating her cinnamon roll along the way, she smiled even more and felt her face start to burn slightly. 'I am going to be alone on a mission with Naruto-kun!'

Yes, Hinata Hyuga was having a great day.

* * *

Notes: I would really appreciate some reviews to tell me how I am doing on the rewrite, and please vote on my poll. I am new to using honorifics, so if I make a mistake please forgive me. I am still looking for a beta reader, so if you are interested, please tell me!

Edited on September 11, 2011: I changed some minor things throughout the chapter. It was all mostly trying to make everything sound better. I did the most changes in the battle scene to try to fix the problem that was pointed out by komikero. Hopefully the chapter is of slightly better quality now. If you see anything that is a bit awkward or needs changed, please tell me and I'll fix it as soon as I can. Have a great day!


	2. Chapter 2:  The Mission Briefing

**To Teach a Fox Remake Ch 2: The Mission Briefing  
**

Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Naruto.

Notes: Here is the second chapter of my remake. Okay, I admit that the story isn't completely OC-less, but Wolf is only acting as Tsunade's errand boy. I promise that he won't be a part of the mission itself.

* * *

As Naruto was making his way down the main road to the Hokage's tower, he saw a flash of lavender a little ways in front of him. He smiled. There was only one person he knew that wore lavender.

"Hinata! Hey, Hinata! Wait up!" Naruto yelled as he started running towards her.

* * *

'Naruto-kun.' The Hyuga heiress stiffened and tried to fight the urge to hide behind something. She stopped and looked at the ground, trying to suppress her blush while she waited for the blond to catch up to her. 'Calm down, Hinata, if you can't face him now, how are you going to handle a mission alone with him?'

* * *

Naruto ran up to the shy girl and smiled.

"Thanks for waiting up, Hinata! Where you going?" The orange clad man asked as he looked at the blushing Hyuga. 'Why does she always look so red?'

Hinata forced herself to look up at the smiling ninja. She tried to answer his question without stuttering. "H-Hello, Naruto-kun. I am o-on my way to the Hokage's tower for a mission b-briefing."

Naruto's fox-like grin widened as he heard that. "I'm going to see Tsunade-baa-chan for a mission briefing too! Do you think we'll be on the same team?" The hyperactive Chunin asked as the two started walking together.

The lavender clad ninja nodded. "W-Wolf-kun believed that it will o-only be the two of us."

"That's great! It's been a while since I've been on a mission with you. Do you know where we're going?" Naruto asked as he turned his head to the side to look at her.

Hinata shook her head as she tried to not focus on what her idol had just said. "N-no, Wolf-kun didn't s-say anything about where we we're g-going."

He nodded exaggeratedly in an almost comical fashion. "Guess we'll just have to find out from Tsunade-baa-chan."

She caught it from the corner of her eye and smiled slightly. He always manged to bring a smile to her face, even if he wasn't trying to.

After a few minutes of walking and small talk, the pair arrived at the Hokage's tower and made their way up to Tsunade's office.

After making it to the door, the energetic teen burst into Tsunade's office without knocking. Hinata followed, slightly worried about Naruto's well-being. Tsunade's brow twitched when she heard him enter the room without knocking.

"What's the mission, Baa-chan? Do you need us to go hunt down some super A rank missing nin and take the-ACK!" Naruto was cut off as a heavy paperweight, thrown by Tsunade, nailed him in the head.

"Knock before entering a room, and STOP CALLING ME THAT!" The blond Hokage yelled as Naruto crumpled to the floor, unconscious from the blow.

"Naruto-kun!" The Hyuga cried out in worry as she rushed over to make sure that her crush was still alive.

Tsunade sat back in her chair and smirked. 'That will teach him to call me grandma'.

A second after Naruto had become a victim of Tsunade's anger, there was a knock on the door. The Hokage glanced at the others in the room, and, knowing that her current appointment would have to wait, she responded. "Come in!"

Wolf opened the door and took a few steps in. "I finished running those papers to Shizune-san. Do you need anything else?"

'That was quick. If he keeps this up, I'm not going to be able to get any rest. Damn it, Shizune! You knew this would happen, and that's why you made me hire him.' Tsunade leaned forward in her chair and looked down at her desk, trying to find something for the young ninja to do. 'Ah!'

She picked up a couple scrolls and held them up for the armored teen. "Take these to the Hawk Room for delivery."

Wolf nodded and walked up to the desk. He took the scrolls and started to leave the room when he saw Naruto and Hinata.

"What did he do this time?" Wolf asked with a slight smile as he looked at his friends.

"Entering without knocking and using the usual insult," Tsunade answered.

Wolf chuckled a little and then tried to calm Hinata down. "Hinata, Naruto is fine. During the Chunin exams I saw him fall forty feet out of a tree, hit about twelve branches on the way down, and land on his head only to be completely fine in five minutes. I don't think a paperweight, even thrown by Tsunade-sama, could keep him down for more than two minutes."

The timid ninja felt somewhat relieved and slowly nodded.

Seeing that he had helped a little, he left the room to finish his new errand.

As Wolf had predicted, Naruto started to stir a few minutes later.

Hinata, still close to him from checking to make sure he was alive, jumped back from the formerly unconscious ninja sporting another blush. Tsunade grinned at this. 'They will certainly make a cute couple if this works.'

"Dang, Baa-chan, you didn't have to throw something at me…that hurt," the blond grumbled as he rubbed his wound and shakily stood.

"Then, next time, don't barge in here without knocking, and STOP CALLING ME GRANDMA!" The Hokage yelled at Naruto. "I'm not that old!" She added indignantly.

"Whatever, Baa-chan, so what's the mission?" He asked, obviously not learning the lesson.

Sannin's brow twitched in anger again. Calming herself, she sighed and folded her hands in front of her face. "Now that you're awake, we can start the briefing. I'm sending you both on C rank mission to Flat Rock Springs to investigate some mysterious disappearances. None of the inhabitants of the town have disappeared, but they have found a few abandoned merchant carts on the roads over the past two months."

After the second sentence, Naruto looked like he was about to complain, but the Hokage had picked up another paperweight and prepared to throw it. Seeing this, he immediately shut his mouth and went back to listening. Getting hit may not have done him any permanent damage, but it certainly didn't feel good.

Knowing she had won, Tsunade smiled evilly and continued the briefing. "Normally, this would be a job for the town's security force, but, according to the request, the town authorities have searched the surrounding areas many times but found nothing. Thus, they have requested our assistance and have paid for a two week mission. You have that long to figure out what's causing the disappearances and stop it. After those two weeks are up; you are to come back to Konoha, even if you didn't find anything. Naruto, I am placing you in charge of this mission. You're dismissed." After finishing speaking, the Hokage smiled slightly in amusement at the two's reactions.

After hearing that he would be in charge, Naruto lost all negative feelings about the mission. His trademark smile was plastered on his face, and he started cheering animatedly. "Yeah! I'm in charge of a mission! This is going to be awesome!"

Hinata stared strait at the ground while a blush enveloped her face. 'I am going on a two week mission with Naruto-kun to a resort town! Maybe I can finally tell him how I feel about him.' The Hyuga started feeling faint, but she was able to fight it and stay conscious.

Wanting to take another nap, Tsunade broke them from their thoughts and/or cheering. "It's great that you like the mission, but stop standing there and GET MOVING! Remember, I expect you both back here in exactly two weeks."

The two nodded and started towards the door. Hinata glanced over at Naruto just in time to see his face light up mischievously. She wanted to say something, but he was already in action before she could stop him.

The blond turned around right before he left the room and yelled. "See you in two weeks, Baa-chan!"

He quickly shut the door and started laughing. Naruto's laughter was viciously cut short as another paperweight burst through the door and slammed into the back of his head. He slumped, unconsciously, to the floor for the second time that day.

"Naruto-kun!" The lavender eyed Hyuga cried out again as she rushed over to the blond.

Seeing his chest rise and fall made Hinata relax slightly. At least he was still alive. She was caught off guard when he began to stir. The shy ninja quickly stood up and took a step back.

'I need to stop making Grandma Tsunade mad. It feels like I took a Rasengan to the back of my head.' Naruto sat up and grabbed his head in a vain attempt to relieve the pain.

"A-are you alright, N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, bashfully, after he sat up.

Hearing the question, he looked up at the concerned Hyuga and grinned. "Yeah! No stupid paperweight can keep me down!"

In an attempt to make his point, he jumped up and looked over at the blushing Hinata. "Let's go get ready for the mission."

She shyly nodded and the two made their way out of the building.

They stopped just outside the entrance into the Hokage's tower. Naruto turned to Hinata. "Let's meet up at the village gates in one hour, alright?"

"O-okay."

The blond's fox-like grin widened. "Alright, see you then, Hinata!" With that, he jumped onto the nearest roof and took off towards his apartment.

The indigo haired ninja watched him for a minute, admiring his enthusiasm and energy, before starting off towards the Hyuga complex.

* * *

The Hokage watched out her window as the two left the tower and went in different directions. She smiled as she thought about what might happen because of the mission. One thing that was guaranteed was the rare peace and quiet that appeared only when Naruto was on a mission outside of the village. 'My best idea today.'

Tsunade swiveled her chair back around to look at the new hole in her door and the paperweight embedded in the wall on the other side of the hall. Knowing that her new assistant was back, she yelled through the door. "Wolf get in here and bring that paperweight with you!"

The armored teen dug the paperweight out of the wall and walked into the room.

Tsunade waited until her errand boy had sat the paperweight down on her desk. She grinned evilly. "Now, go get me a new door!"

* * *

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Naruto speedily made his way back to his apartment. After only five minutes, he jumped down in front of the apartment complex and made his way up to the flat door.

After entering his apartment, he decided to get ready right away, so he grabbed his mission backpack and started packing.

Naruto's mind turned to the upcoming mission as he quickly packed. 'This is my first time leading a mission! I can't mess this up no matter what, or I may never get put in charge of a mission again. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out what's happening with Hinata's help.'

He looked around his apartment one last time for anything he may have left out, and then nodded in satisfaction. "Alright! I'm finished, and I still have just over forty minutes left. I can stop in and get some more ramen before I leave!" Naruto happily grabbed his pack and left his apartment, locking it behind him. He sped off towards his favorite ramen stand.

The blond ninja arrived quickly and greeted two of the only people who had never treated him poorly when he was younger. "Hey, old man and Ayame! I need two bowls of miso ramen!" He said, pushing the small cloth dividers out of his way as he entered.

"Coming right up, Naruto!"

Naruto took a seat while Teuchi started working on his order. The first bowl was completed quickly by the seasoned ramen chef, and Ayame placed the ramen in front of Naruto.

"Itadakimasu!"

Ayame, having known Naruto for a long time, noticed that his smile was brighter than usual, and quickly questioned him about it. "What's made you so happy, Naruto?"

Naruto had already started eating, but answered Ayame's question anyways, miraculously managing not to spray ramen bits everywhere. "I just got put in charge of a mission and we're leaving in half an hour!"

Ayame smiled despite the scene. She had grown used to the teen's antics long ago. "That's wonderful, Naruto! I know you'll do great! Who else is going? Where are you going?"

The blond, remembering his manners, swallowed before answering. "Thanks, Ayame! It's just Hinata and me. We're going to a placed called...uh." His face scrunched up in concentration.

"You mean you've forgotten already?" Ayame said, feigning annoyance. Truthfully, she was quite surprised that Naruto was going to be alone with Hinata. She mentally grinned. 'I bet Hinata will enjoy this mission.'

He frowned. "No! It just slipped my mind. It's...Flat Rock Springs?" Naruto said, though it was much more of a question. He mulled it over for a few seconds before nodding. "Yeah, that's it." He returned to eating, satisfied that he had said the right name.

Ayame's eyes lit up in excitement. She cheered inwardly. 'A resort! Is the Hokage planning what I think she is?'

Teuchi finished making the last bowl of ramen and carried it over to Naruto. "That's great news, Naruto, and to celebrate these two bowls are on the house!"

Naruto's smile widened at the news. "Thanks, old man!" He wasted no time in polishing off the two bowls.

After he had finished eating, Naruto said goodbye to the two ramen cooks and then started off towards the village gates. "I wonder if Hinata is at the gates yet."

* * *

After Hinata had left the Hokage's tower, she headed back towards the Hyuga compound, her mind a whirlwind of emotions. Most notably were elation, terror and nervousness, all caused by the fact that she would be alone with her longtime crush. Eventually joy won out.

'I'm going to Flat Rock Springs for two weeks with Naruto-kun!' Her blush and smile doubled, but they quickly faded when she caught sight of the stark, white walls of the Hyuga compound. Those walls had always seemed to sap her of her happiness, but doubly so after her mother's death. She partially wondered if that was the purpose of the starkness, to rob people of their happiness to remind them of their lot in life. That seemed like something the Hyuga council would do. She attempted to push those thoughts away as she walked up to the guards. She smiled. "Hello, Hiro-san. How has your day been?"

A smile tugged at the man's lips. "My day has been fine. Thank you for asking, Hinata-sama. I hope that your day has been pleasant."

"It has been." She responded happily as she entered the vast compound. The heiress was glad that the relations between the main house and branch house had gotten much better after her father had started training Neji. There was still a wide divide between the houses though, mostly due to the Hyuga Council.

Hinata made her way to her room and happily packed for the mission, but her happiness drained away slightly at the thought of telling her father that she would be gone for two weeks on a mission. Having finished packing and not having anything else to do, the lavender eyed Hyuga left her room and quietly headed to her father's study. She lightly knocked on her father's door and nervously anticipated the coming talk.

She heard a "come in" and slid the door open. After closing the door and bowing, she took a seat on a cushion in front of Hiashi's work table. Hiashi, as she had predicted, was busy with paperwork. The heiress nervously glanced down at the ground and waited for him to speak.

The clan leader signed something and then looked up at his eldest daughter. "What is it, Hinata?"

The teen forced herself to look up from the ground and at her father. "I-I just wanted to t-tell you that I am g-going on a two w-week mission." She silently cursed the fact that she had stuttered.

Hiashi didn't seem phased by the stutter and nodded. "Where are you going?"

"We are g-going to Flat Rock Springs," Hinata responded quietly, forcing herself to stutter less.

The Hyuga leader, whom had looked back down at his paperwork, glanced up at his daughter. "I have heard about some disappearances in the region. I assume that your mission is to investigate this?"

She nodded. "Yes, Otou-san."

"Very good, some of the merchants I regularly do business with were concerned about the disappearances. They will be glad to hear that the situation is being taken care of." He signed a paper and looked back up at Hinata. "Whom else is going with you?"

The indigo haired Chunin worriedly looked down at the ground and quietly responded to the question. "U-Uzumaki-san and I will be the o-only ones on t-the mission."

Hearing this, Hiashi's mouth gave a slight twitch, but that fact was lost to Hinata as she was still looking at the ground. "Thank you for informing me. You may go."

The Hyuga heiress stood and bowed, somewhat relieved that he had not exploded at the fact that she would be traveling alone with Naruto. She turned to leave the room when Hiashi spoke again. "Good luck, Hinata. I hope you will have a successful mission."

"T-Thank you, Otou-san." The lavender eyed Hyuga said as she left the room.

Hinata was thankful that her father had started to warm up to her over the past few years. He was no longer the cold man that didn't seem to care about anything but having a strong heiress. Of course, Hiashi was still not very willing to show emotion, but he treated everyone in the family with more respect and kindness. He had especially taken to congratulating Hinata whenever she succeeded in something.

While passing by the kitchen, she decided to fix something to eat during the mission. It didn't take long for her to prepare two food boxes. The Chunin ate the remaining food after filling the boxes and then went back to her room to grab her pack. Hinata checked to make sure that she had everything and then left the Hyuga compound.

As she was walking down the main street of the city, the Hyuga heiress heard someone calling her name.

"Hinata! Hinata, wait up!"

The lavender clad ninja stopped when she recognized the voice and blushed. 'Naruto-kun.'

The blond quickly caught up with her. "Ready for the mission?"

Hinata nodded, and they started walking to the village gates once again. Surprisingly, despite Naruto's presence, they walked to the gates in silence, as they were both lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

Even though it was only a C rank, Naruto's mind was focused on the mission. Not only did he get to be in charge, but he also got to go with one of his friends. He thought about the lavender clad girl next to him. Before the first Chunin Exams, he had always thought that Hinata was really weird, but after having some missions with her, he quickly found that she was a very kind person and he really liked her.

The orange clad ninja still didn't know how or why, but just talking to her made him feel like he didn't have to put on an act. The current situation was an excellent example of that fact. Normally, he would be constantly talking to get people to pay attention to him, but he didn't feel that way when he was with Hinata. He always felt at ease with her around. Naruto almost began to wonder why he felt that way, but was broken from that line of thought when he caught sight of the gates.

* * *

Hinata was just happy to be going on a mission with Naruto, but having a mission in a resort town was a nice plus. She really hoped that she could open up around the blond and get him to notice her. 'This is going to be my best chance to tell him how I feel! I just have to work up enough courage to do it.'

She bashfully looked over at her blond companion. 'I wonder what he's thinking about.'

* * *

After making sure that Hinata was out of the compound with a quick flash of his Byakugan, Hiashi left his study and walked to the main gates of the Hyuga compound. He turned to one of the guards on duty. "I would like you to go find Yuhi-san, and tell her to be at the Hokage's office as soon as possible."

"Of course, sir!" Hiro responded and then looked over at the other guard. "I will be back shortly."

The other guard simply nodded.

After hearing the guard's response, the Hyuga clan leader started walking towards the Hokage's tower. He knew Tsunade had intended this mission to bring his daughter and the jinchuriki closer together, and he was going to let her and his daughter's Jonin know exactly what he thought about that.

* * *

The two ninja team quickly made it to the gate. When they were there, Naruto pumped his fist into the air from excitement. "This mission is going to be awesome!" He had a feeling that something big was going to happen during the mission, and he was more than ready to get going.

The Hyuga heiress smiled at her teammate's excitement.

Finished showing his enthusiasm for the mission, Naruto turned to Hinata. "Ready to go?"

Hinata nodded in response to her crush's question. "Y-Yes, I am ready."

"Alright, then lets get moving!" The blond yelled as he sped through the gates. Surprised, but not wanting to get left behind, Hinata rushed after the the energetic Chunin.

The two sped towards Flat Rock Springs on a mission that, unbeknownst to them, would change everything.

* * *

Notes: What did you think of chapter two? Do I have too much repetition in words and/or ideas? Was the interaction between the characters realistic? Are all the characters in character? I would appreciate any and all advice, and/or criticism. I know that I am horrible at making up names for things so if you think that you have a better name for something (towns, jutsu, people, ect.), please tell me! I would be happy to hear them!

Edited on September 11, 2011: Just a quick read over and a few changes to make things sound better. Hopefully it reads better now. As I have said before, if you see anything that you think needs to be edited, please tell me!


	3. Chapter 3:  The Warning

**To Teach a Fox Remake Ch 3: The Warning  
**

Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Naruto.

Notes: With a 9 to 1 vote, this version is the winner and will be continued! About 95% of this chapter had to be rewritten because of the major role my OC had in the original version. I apologize for the very late chapter, but I hit a major block when writing the meeting between Hiashi, Tsunade, and Kurenai. I spent most of last week doing almost nothing (excluding school and the RP) except working on just that part of the chapter, and, in the end, I only have a slightly above normal sized chapter. That is very disheartening for me, but I guess rewriting it four times can do that to you. I also want to say thank you to Musicfreak77 for taking a look at my chapter before I posted it.

* * *

Twenty minutes after leaving the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto realized he was missing something vital to the completion of the mission.

'Crap! I don't know where we're going! I know that I've been there before with Ero-sennin. Come on, Naruto, think! Where's this place at?' His thoughts turned frantic, trying to get his bearings and figure out where the resort was located without tipping Hinata off to his mistake.

* * *

Hinata grew concerned as she watched her friend glancing around the forest as if searching for something. 'Did Naruto hear or see something I didn't?'

Not wanting to be caught off guard, her bloodline flared to life and granted her perfect vision of the forest surround them. She wasted no time in scanning for danger. Just a few birds and rabbits. Nothing out of place. She frowned slightly in thought and released the chakra focused in her eyes. 'Maybe he just forgot something?'

* * *

'I give up! I've been trying to remember how to get there for the last five minutes, and I still have no idea where it's at. I guess I have no choice. I'll have to ask Hinata.' He glanced back at the heiress and started to slow down.

When he was running even with his friend, he looked over and gave her the I-did-something-idiotic grin as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Hey, Hinata, do you know how to get to Flat Rock Springs?"

The Hyuga was startled by Naruto's question, and her face quickly lit up in a blush at the attention. Luckily, she did know where it was since she had traveled there a few times with her father. "I-I believe t-that the town is northeast f-from here. We could p-possibly cut through the forest h-here and r-reach it by tomorrow m-morning."

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, happy to know that they now had a direction to travel. He was about to run ahead again when he noticed that Hinata's face was abnormally red again. He frowned slightly in concern. "Are you okay, Hinata? You look a little red. Did you catch a fever?" He started edging closer to her in an attempt to check her temperature with his hand.

Hinata's blush deepened at his concern and proximity. Knowing that she would probably faint if he succeeded in touching her, the shy girl squeaked out an answer to his questions. "I-I am f-fine, Naruto-kun."

The blond stopped edging closer, his concern evident on his face. "Are you sure? You look more red than you did a second ago."

She nodded. "Y-Yes, I-I'm fine."

Sometimes Naruto didn't know what to think of Hinata. She always seemed to be a bit red in the face whenever he was near, and she always seemed to stumble over her words when trying to talk. At first, he had dismissed it as her just being weird, but, as he had gotten to know her, he had started to put more thought into it.

For a very short time, the blond had thought that it was because she was mad at him, but that idea had only lasted about two seconds. Hinata was never mad at anyone, and she usually seemed happy to see him. Now he didn't know what to think. He had just accepted it as Hinata being Hinata. The lavender eyed girl had always been an enigma to Naruto, but the more he figured out, the more he liked her.

"Alright, then do you want to lead? With your Byakugan, you can keep us on track and watch for enemies at the same time!" Naruto paused and his fox-like grin widened. "I know you can get us there no problem!"

The Hyuga's blush doubled at the blond's praise. Not trusting her voice, she nodded.

The energetic teen pumped his arm into the air. "Alright! Lets get going!"

She quickly complied and took the lead slightly. Naruto followed after her, completely trusting in her ability to get them there safely.

* * *

Hiro Hyuga was trying to figure out where Kurenai Yuhi could be, but he didn't know the jonin well enough to accurately guess where she was. Luckily, that wasn't that large of a problem because of his Byakugan. After he had been given the task, he had traveled to the center of town to get as much as he could out of the first sweep.

"Byakugan!" He quickly scanned the village and praised his good fortune when he spotted her walking down the street right next to the one he was currently standing in. He released his bloodline and wasted little time in switching streets. Glancing to his right, he spotted Kurenai and Asuma walking down the street towards him. He walked up to the pair and addressed Hinata's teacher. "Please excuse my interruption, Yuhi-san, but I have a message for you."

Kurenai, surprised to be getting a message from Hyuga clan, glanced over at Asuma to see what he thought. The bearded jonin seemed to understand her unasked question and shrugged. She refocused on Hiro. "What's the message?"

"Hiashi-sama would like you to meet him at Hokage-sama's office as soon as possible," the guard responded.

Though it was being hidden, he could see some worry creep onto her face.

"Did Hiashi-san say what he wanted to see me about?" Kurenai asked in an artificially calm voice.

Hiro shook his head. "He did not, Yuhi-san."

"Alright, thank you for telling me. I'll meet him there immediately," Kurenai said as she looked over at Asuma. "Sorry, but I need to go to this meeting."

Asuma nodded. "No problem, I'll be training on field twenty-nine if you want to finish our discussion."

Seeing that he was no longer needed, the Hyuga spoke again. "If you will excuse me, I must get back to my guard post." With that, he left the two jonin and started off towards the Hyuga district.

On the way back, Hiro allowed his thoughts to turn towards the purpose of the meeting. 'If Yuhi-san is going, then the meeting probably has something to do with Hinata-sama. I just hope that it does not end up adversely effecting her.' He pushed those thoughts aside when he arrived at the gates of the Hyuga compound and dutifully took up his position.

* * *

Shortly after Hiro had left, Kurenai had used the body flicker jutsu to get to the Hokage's tower as quickly as possible. She started up the stairs leading to the floor Tsunade's office was on. On the way up, she tried to think of what Hiashi could want to talk about that involved the Hokage.

'The last time he wanted to talk, it was when he had given up on Hinata and had started focusing on Hanabi. She's improved immensely since then, so could he have started 'caring' about her now that she is a strong contender for the position of clan head?' The Jonin scowled at that thought. 'If that were it, I don't see why he would want the Hokage involved, unless he wants to move her out of the team. I'll never let that man get away with that. Hinata is staying with Team Kurenai!'

The genjutsu master's scowl deepened as she turned into the hallway leading to Tsunade's office.

* * *

Hiashi Hyuga walked towards the Hokage's tower at a reserved pace. Although he did want to speak to Tsunade and Kurenai soon, he was in no hurry, and it would have been improper for the Hyuga clan leader to be seen jumping from rooftop to rooftop or even walking abnormally quickly. He signed mentally. Sometimes the rules of Hyuga conduct could be rather inconvenient.

Even with the normal pace, he arrived at the Hokage's tower relatively quickly and made his way up to Tsunade's office. When he arrived, Hiashi saw a Chunin working on putting up a new door. Curious as to why the door needed replacing, he studied the door on the floor nearby.

The Hyuga clan leader's mouth slipped into a slight smile when he saw the hole in the door and wall. 'It seems Tsunade's anger got the better of her, and I bet I know who was on the receiving end.' His mouth quickly went back to its customary partial scowl when the Chunin finished putting up the new door and turned to face him.

"Oh, Hyuga-sama," Wolf bowed slightly, "I apologize if you've been waiting long. I'll be out of your way in a second."

"It is no trouble, though I am curious as to why there is a hole in the Hokage's door and the wall there," he said, indicating the small hole in the wall.

Mirth lit up the other man's face. "Well, it seems Naruto did something Hokage-sama didn't like, and she decided to teach him a lesson."

"I see." Hiashi didn't show it, but he was immensely entertained by that fact. "Would you happen to know if Tsunade-sama is in?"

"Yeah, she's in," he paused when he saw Kurenai come into the hallway with a scowl on her face. Deciding not to stick around for the ensuing argument, he lifted the broken door. "If you don't need me for anything, I have a couple other things to do."

The clan leader nodded and turned to knock on the new door as the Chunin scrambled to get out of Kurenai's way. Hiashi paused when he heard heavy footsteps down the hall. He didn't need to look to know who it could be. "What's this about, Hiashi…san."

"Ah, Yuhi-san. I would prefer to wait until we are in the Hokage's office before we start this discussion," the Hyuga leader responded as he calmly knocked on the door.

Kurenai bristled at being dismissed so easily, but she waited nevertheless. The two heard a 'come in' from inside the office.

* * *

Tsunade glanced up from a report and was surprised to see Hiashi Hyuga and Kurenai Yuhi enter her office. 'Shit. I can already feel the headache coming on.'

"Tsunade-sama, would you happen to have some time to discuss something?" Hiashi asked as he walked up to the Hokage's desk and offered a slight bow.

The blond sat the report on the desk and motioned for the two to take a seat. "I suppose so. What are we going to be discussing?"

Hiashi waited until both of them were seated before responding. "My eldest daughter's feelings for Uzumaki, and the reason you just sent them on a mission alone together...among other things."

The jonin immediately tightened her grip on the chair she was sitting in, a rebuke boiling in her throat. However, she was silenced when Tsunade spoke. "What I send my ninja to do is none of your concern, and, as for Hinata's feelings, I don't see how that's your concern either. She is free to like whomever she wants to," the Hokage stated forcefully as she leaned forward in her chair and folded her hands in front of her.

Seeing an opening to speak her mind, Kurenai glared over at Hiashi. "You've never taken an interest in Hinata since assigning her to me, so why are you taking an interest now?"

Hiashi inwardly sighed at the direction the two kunoichi automatically thought he was going to take the conversation. 'Is their opinion of me truly that terrible?' He wondered briefly before conceding. 'I suppose that I have done nothing to create a positive opinion.'

Hoping to clear the air, he shook his head and responded. "You misunderstand me. I did not come here with the misconception that I could control who my daughter loves, nor did I intend to step upon your authority, Tsunade-sama." The Hyuga then turned his head to face Kurenai. "I have always cared for and taken an interest in my daughters, though, I admit, perhaps not in the way that they needed."

Kurenai was caught off guard by Hiashi's statement, but her surprise quickly shifted to disbelief. Nevertheless, she kept her mouth shut. 'You practically threw Hinata out! How is that caring for her?'

The Hokage spoke quickly, knowing any conversation between the two would end poorly. "Then why did you come here, Hiashi-san?" .

"To warn you of the possible implications of having my eldest daughter and Uzumaki fall in love," the clan leader responded after turning to face her.

Tsunade's brow furrowed as she frowned. "And just what implications would those be?"

"Strong opposition to their love by the Hyuga Council, and possible political upheaval within the clan," Hiashi replied solemnly.

Both kunoichi had somewhat expected the first, but the second had not been expected. Tsunade reacted to Hiashi's claim first. "How would Hinata and Naruto falling in love cause political upheaval within the Hyuga?"

Hiashi, showing a rare bit of emotion, sighed tiredly and started explaining the situation. "In the past, the thought of the heir or heiress falling in love with someone of 'less than respectable' blood would have been utterly opposed by the entirety of the clan, and the heir or heiress would have been forced into an arranged marriage. In fact, to prevent something similar from happening, official heirs or heiresses have almost always had an arranged marriage drawn up at, or soon after birth." He paused to allow the two to soak in what he had said and shifted slightly in his chair.

Kurenai hated the idea of arranged marriages, and she scowled as her thoughts turned to why Hiashi might have brought it up. 'Hinata better not have an arranged marriage set up.'

Seeing Kurenai's expression, the Hyuga head quickly deduced what had made her scowl and smiled inwardly as he set her fears to rest. "However, that practice has been discontinued. Shortly before Hinata's birth, my wife and I promised each other that none of our children would be forced into an arranged marriage. I have kept that promise."

Relief flooded Kurenai and her anger at Hiashi waned. She had not expected Hiashi to be so honorable. 'I guess he isn't a complete bastard.'

Tsunade was relieved as well, but she had noticed something in the way the clan head had phrased his explanation. "In the past? Does that mean that it isn't that way anymore?"

Hiashi nodded. "As you might have known, there is animosity between the main and branch houses of the Hyuga. Most of the branch houses want a change in how the clan is run, and they see Hinata, one of the few main house members to treat them with respect, as their best chance of making such changes happen. As such, they will most likely side with my eldest daughter when the Hyuga Council tries to move against her."

Both kunoichi were immediately concerned, but Kurenai reacted first. "What do you mean, 'when they try to move against her'?"

"Though you may think otherwise, I do not hold absolute power within the Hyuga Clan. I do have a wide range of powers, but the Hyuga Council holds many powers as well. The Council was created to not only represent the interests of the entirety of the clan, but to also provide a check for the clan head's power. It is an excellent system in theory, but, unfortunately, the Council has long been dominated by power hungry main house members that like keeping the branch house in their position of servitude," Hiashi explained before he was interrupted by Kurenai.

"Because of Hinata's views and support from the branch family, they see her as a threat?" She asked, more as a revelation than an actual question.

He nodded again and continued. "Yes, they see Hinata as the biggest threat to their power, and they are looking for any reason to stop her from taking my position. Unfortunately, her love for Uzumaki is just the kind of reason they are looking for."

Tsunade sighed in frustration and sat back in her chair. 'Why can't anything ever be easy around here?'

"Can't she just not accept the position?" Kurenai asked, her irritation with the Hyuga Council evident in her voice.

Hiashi glanced over at the woman and nodded. "Yes, but that course of action comes with very…unpleasant consequences."

"Like what?" Kurenai growled, irritation growing.

Having had to deal with the Hyuga Clan on many occasions, the Hokage answered first. "She would be sealed and made a member of a branch house."

Hiashi merely nodded in agreement.

The jonin scowled again. "Then what are we supposed to do? It would crush her if she couldn't be with Naruto, and she doesn't deserve to be sealed! Isn't there a way you stop this, Hiashi?"

He slowly shook his head. "If there was anything I could do within my own power, I would have done it by now."

"Tsunade-sama?" Kurenai asked desperately, turning towards the Hokage.

"I'm afraid that I have no power over clan affairs, otherwise I would have done something about the seals a long time ago," the blond responded wearily.

Kurenai ground her teeth in anger as she sat back in her chair. "There has to be some way she can get out of this!"

"She could possibly get out of it if Uzumaki's heritage is revealed, but, even then, it is debatable whether it would help or not," Hiashi stated as he directed his attention to the Hokage.

"If Naruto's heritage is revealed? How would that change anything? Isn't he just an orphan?" Questioned the curious jonin.

Tsunade stiffened at Hiashi's comment and leveled a glare in his direction while Kurenai questioned him. "His heritage is classified, and it's going to stay that way until I believe him ready for the information. How did you find out about it, Hiashi-san?" She asked, knowing that the damage had already been done.

Not wishing to gain any more of the Hokage's ire, he ignored Kurenai's questions. "I apologize for bringing it up, but it is the only chance I see for my daughter to escape her precarious position. As for how I found out, it was not hard to identify my best friend's son. His features and personality made it rather easy."

Kurenai had no idea who Naruto's parents were, but she quickly began trying to piece it together. 'If Hiashi and Tsunade knew them, then they must have been very influential within the village. If his features make it easy, then who does he look like?' She franticly started comparing Naruto to all the influential people from Konoha's recent history.

Tsunade sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time that day, tiredly leaning back in her chair once more. "True, but none of his other friends have seemed to have figured it out."

Hiashi fought back a scowl. "That is because they do not want to know or believe. Better to go along with popular opinion than do the correct thing."

The Hokage conceded the point with a nod. "When did you figure it out?"

"I realized his heritage when Sarutobi-sama was taking care of Uzumaki within the first year," he responded.

Tsunade's anger flared back up. "Then why didn't you do something to help him?"

"I did. I tried to bring him into the Hyuga Clan, but there were obstacles that prevented that course of action. The Hyuga Council vehemently opposed it, and Sarutobi-sama did not want to risk an uproar from the Uchiha over the Hyuga Clan gaining a jinchuriki. Not being able to help him in that way, I ordered all members of the clan to treat Uzumaki with respect, and I gave some money to Sarutobi-sama each week so that Uzumaki would have a better life. Unfortunately, that is all that I was able to do. The Council blocked all of my other attempts to help him," Hiashi defended calmly.

'I guess I don't know him as well as I thought I did,' Tsunade thought as she looked at the Hyuga. "Alright, but keep that information to yourself. Right now, it would only cause more problems for him."

Hiashi nodded in understanding and spoke again. "Very well, but I do not see many other viable solutions to my daughter's problem. Unless we want to break the long-held law of clan independence."

Tsunade immediately struck down the idea. "Hell no. I've had enough trouble with the town Council already. I don't need that adding to it, and I sure as hell don't want to be remembered as the Hokage that destroyed one of the village's most revered traditions."

Hiashi conceded. "I did not expect you would. If I were in your position, I would not want to either."

While the other two had been continuing their discussion, Kurenai had been trying to solve her puzzle. Based on physical features, she had narrowed it down to two possibilities. 'Either Naruto is a Yamanaka, or he's the son of the Yondaime Hokage. His hair and eyes aren't quite the same color, and I don't see why the Yamanaka would let one of their own become a orphan, even if they were a jinchuriki. I don't remember the Yondaime having a wife, but everything else fits. Could Naruto really be the son of the Yondaime Hokage?'

The Hokage was about to respond to Hiashi when Kurenai spoke. "Naruto's the son of the Yondaime, isn't he?"

'That didn't take her long to figure out.' Hiashi's mouth briefly twitched upwards. He glanced at the Hokage, curious to see her response.

'Why can't anything go my way today?' Tsunade thought bitterly as she tried to figure out if she should tell the jonin. In the process of thinking, the Hokage came up with a possible course of action. 'All of our problem revolves around the fact that Naruto and Hinata fall in love, but what if Naruto doesn't return her feelings?'

She broke from her thoughts and leveled a stern expression at Kurenai. "Don't speak to anyone outside of this room about what I am going to tell you. If word gets out, it could lead to conflict with Iwa. Understood?"

Kurenai nodded and Tsunade continued. "You are correct, Minato Namikaze is Naruto's father, and his mother is Kushina Uzumaki."

Despite the compelling evidence she had gathered in her mind, the news still came as a shock. She hadn't actually thought she would be correct. As the revelation set in, she began to feel sick. The son of a Hokage had been left to fend for himself and had been mistreated by the majority of the village. How could something like that ever happen?

Not waiting for Kurenai to process the new information, the Hokage turned back to Hiashi. "Am I correct in thinking that this discussion only really matters if Naruto returns Hinata's feelings?"

He briefly contemplated the question before tentatively nodding. "Yes, it wouldn't stop the Council from trying to stop her from becoming the clan head, but it would make it much harder for them to do so."

Satisfied with that answer, Tsunade turned back to Kurenai. "Would you be willing to take a two week vacation to Flat Rock Springs?"

Kurenai was caught off guard by the question, but responded quickly "Sure, but what does that have to do with Naruto and Hinata?"

Tsunade smiled when she heard Kurenai's answer, settling back into her chair in satisfaction. "That's where Naruto and Hinata went for their mission. I want you to go there and watch them. If Naruto seems to start returning Hinata's feelings, test him. Make sure that he truly loves her. I don't want him thinking that he loves her, only to find out to the contrary, after causing conflict with the Hyuga clan. I know he wouldn't do it on purpose, but he hasn't had anyone there to teach him what love is. I don't think he knows what it truly means. Hell, his infatuation with Sakura is proof enough of that."

Both Kurenai and Hiashi were surprised by the plan, but also in agreement with Tsunade's suggestion.

"That could save everyone a lot of trouble. If he doesn't love her, it doesn't create any extra problems, and, if he does, we know that they love each other and won't fall apart because of the trouble. I'll do it," the jonin reasoned.

The Hokage glanced at Hiashi. "Do you have any objections to this?"

"No." While it didn't solve his problem, it was the most satisfactory plan he had heard in a long time.

The Hokage smiled slightly. "Good! Kurenai, watch them for the two weeks they are on that mission. Send us a message with your findings before they get back so that we'll have time to prepare if we have to."

She nodded in understanding. "Did you have anything in mind as to how to test him?"

Curiosity piqued, Hiashi turned his attention to the Hokage as well. Tsunade lapsed into thought for a few seconds before smiling evilly.

* * *

Notes: I hope you enjoyed chapter three. Now that my problem has been resolved, I will, hopefully, be back on my normal schedule. I just hope I don't have a repeat of what happened with this chapter. Anyways, I'm not entirely sure if I used honorifics correctly in this chapter, so please tell me if I didn't. Did the conversation between Hiashi, Tsunade, and Kurenai make sense? Were they all in character? As always, if you have any input on my story, I would love to hear it!

Edited on September 11, 2011: As with the previous two chapters, all I pretty much did was try to make everything flow and sound better. If you see anything that you think needs fixed, please tell me. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!


	4. Chapter 4:  Village Affairs

**To Teach a Fox Remake Ch 4: Village Affairs  
**

Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Naruto.

Notes: I'm alive in case anyone was wondering. I apologize for not posting a chapter in…how long has it been? I'm fairly certain that you don't want to hear my excuses, so here's the extremely belated chapter four. Before you start, I want to thank Musicfreak77 and Senkyo for beta reading for me. Now, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Kurenai stared at the Hokage, an incredulous look plastered on her face. "Are you sure you want me to do that?"

Tsunade's sinister smile widened. "Oh, I'm sure."

Using his years of practice in suppressing visible emotions, Hiashi fought back a smile. "I think that it is a fine idea."

Kurenai glanced over at the Hyuga before sighing in defeat and sinking back in her chair. "Alright, it's going to take a lot of time and effort to set up, but I'll do it."

The Hokage grinned inwardly at her victory. Naruto was in for one interesting test. "Excellent! Was there anything else that you wanted to discuss, Hiashi-san?"

He shook his head. "We have discussed everything that I came here for."

Tsunade nodded and then looked at Kurenai. "Do you have anything you wish to ask?"

Kurenai was silent for a few seconds before responding. "Not right now."

The Hokage sighed inwardly in relief as she folded her hands in front of her again. "Then we will meet again when we have more information on this matter. Agreed?"

Hiashi immediately accepted the idea. "Yes, I believe that another meeting would be very beneficial once we know which path Uzumaki has taken."

Not wanting to sound repetitive, Kurenai just nodded.

"Very well, I will contact you when I have new information relevant to this matter," said the blond as she looked, over her folded hands, at the two others in the room.

"I will do the same. Now, if you will excuse me, I must be getting back to the compound. I have a meeting with the Hyuga Council to prepare for." The clan head stood and bowed slightly to Tsunade and Kurenai. "Tsunade-sama, Yuhi-san."

They acknowledged the bow as Hiashi quietly left the room and started on his way back to the Hyuga Compound.

* * *

Hiashi left the room feeling much more hopeful about his daughter's position than he had been in a long time. He was so hopeful and happy that he couldn't keep a very slight smile off of his face. Though Hiashi had expected both Tsunade and Kurenai to want to help Naruto and Hinata, respectively, he had not expected them to be so adamant about it.

'This has been a very productive day. I have finished almost all of that paperwork the Council bombarded me with, and I informed two influential people about the current situation in the Hyuga. Not only has it gained me two allies if a conflict within the clan does break out, but I will also have a concrete answer on whether Uzumaki loves my daughter or not. Yes, today has been extremely productive,' he thought as he walked out of the Hokage's office and down the bustling street.

'Now I just have to deal with the Council.' That thought made Hiashi's slight smile fade into nothingness.

* * *

The Kunoichi watched Hiashi leave. Once he had shut the door, Tsunade looked over at Kurenai. "I don't care when you leave to check up on Naruto and Hinata. Just make sure that you get a message back to us in plenty of time."

The other woman nodded in understanding and paused briefly in thought. "Why did Hiashi say that revealing Naruto's heritage might not help? I can't imagine any clan turning down the son of Minato."

Tsunade was slightly irritated because she wanted to be left alone for a while, but she knew that the jonin just wanted to help so she answered. "I would have to guess it has something to do with Naruto being a Jinchuriki."

Kurenai frowned but nodded. "That's all I came up with as well, but why would the Hyuga Council give up the chance to try to control a Jinchuriki? They would probably have a good amount of control over Naruto if they threatened Hinata."

Tsunade scowled and leaned forward in her chair in thought. She looked up at Kurenai after a few seconds and responded, "True, but I don't think that they will try that."

"Why wouldn't they?" Kurenai asked, curious.

The Hokage glanced out of her office window and in the direction of the Hyuga Compound, her lips pulled into a tight frown. "The Hyuga Council usually only deals with internal affairs, so not many people outside the Hyuga clan have dealings with them or even know about them. In fact, I didn't even know that they existed until I took this job."

Tsunade's anger flared up a bit, but she quickly got it under control and glanced at Kurenai. "I've had a few meetings with them since becoming Hokage, and they're probably the most arrogant people I have ever met. They believe that the Hyuga clan is the ultimate clan and that Hyuga blood is the most noble in the world. I don't have a doubt in my mind that the thought of having the main house's blood made 'impure' by Naruto, for them, outweighs the chance of having control over a Jinchuriki or Minato's son."

Kurenai scowled. "How can someone be that conceded?"

The Hokage's anger flared up again as she thought back on one of her meetings with the Hyuga Council. "I don't know, but it is infuriating beyond belief. I have to force myself not to get up and kick some sense and humility into them during our meetings."

Knowing that she probably would have been the same way, Kurenai nodded in understanding. She sat there for a few more minutes, waiting to see if the Hokage would say anything else, but Tsunade was completely absorbed in her thoughts. Wanting to get moving, Kurenai stood, bowed to Tsunade and left the room.

The Hokage was so engaged in her thoughts that she didn't notice that Kurenai had left until the door clicked shut. She looked down at her desk and sighed. 'I guess I should get back to work, or Shizune will have my head for not finishing these reports.' The blond picked up the report she had discarded and started looking it over. That only lasted a few seconds before she huffed in irritation and threw it back down on her desk. 'I can't concentrate on this at all! Damn it!'

She swiveled her chair to look out of her office window and rubbed her forehead in an attempt to lessen the brewing headache. 'Why the hell do things like this always happen to me?'

* * *

Kurenai left Tsunade's office in a state of worry and concern. 'How are we going to stop this from spiraling out of control? From the way it sounds, the Hyuga Council is going to be dead set on keeping Naruto and Hinata apart. We can't let them get away with that. Those two deserve a chance to be together as much as anyone else.' As she left the building, her mind was in a flurry of activity while she tried to think of anything that could help her student and the blond jinchuriki.

Worry motivating her, she wasted little time in getting back to her apartment. Once inside, it didn't take her long to get everything packed and ready to go. Years of missions had taught her to prepare for the next mission immediately after getting back from the previous one, so all she really had to do was toss in a few more pairs of clothes. Kurenai ran through a mental checklist of everything in her pack before heading out of her apartment door and locking it behind her.

She rocketed off towards the village's main gate. As she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, her mind turned to Hinata's situation once again. 'There has to be a surefire way to let her be with Naruto and not start a political upheaval. There has to be.'

* * *

Trying to think of some solution to the mess that had been dropped in her lap, Tsunade stared out over the horizon for about five minutes before giving up and looking down into the street. As her eyes wandered the street below, she spotted a group of children playing with each other in front of a shop. It looked as if they were playing tag, and it was obvious that they were having a good time.

The Hokage's mouth turned up into a smile at the sight, touched by the innocence of the scene. 'I wish I could be that young and carefree again,' she thought wistfully. She continued watching the children for a few minutes before glancing at her desk and sighing in frustration. 'All this paperwork is driving me crazy.' The blond turned back to her desk and absentmindedly started rummaging through some of the papers. 'There has to be some way to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.'

As she flipped through the papers, one of them caught her eye and she pulled it out of the stack to look at it. 'A request to go through all of our records and re-catalog them?' The Hokage's brow furrowed in thought. 'There's a very good chance that some documents may not have been cataloged when they were put in there. Maybe one of them can help? It's worth a shot.'

Tsunade signed the paper and set it on top of the stack of completed papers on her desk. 'Even if we don't find any forgotten documents that can help, it still gives me a valid reason to spend long periods of time in the records room. That will be helpful if the Hyuga Council starts to suspect something.' She sat back in her chair and rubbed her forehead again. 'Even when he's not in the village, Naruto still finds a way to cause problems for me.'

Tsunade sat there for a few minutes before she let out a small chuckle and smiled slightly. 'Even so, I wouldn't trade him for anything. After all, he still needs to take this job from me.'

She took one last glance in the direction of Flat Rock Springs before turning her attention back towards the tremendous amount of paperwork on her desk. 'I think I'd rather take on Akatsuki than deal with this,' she thought gloomily as she picked up a report and started reading.

* * *

Hiashi had made it back to the Hyuga compound within ten minutes of leaving the Hokage's office. He greeted the on-duty guards with his usual nod, and they greeted him with their customary bow.

As he was walking past Hiro, Hiashi stopped and glanced in the guard's direction. "Thank you for finding Yuhi-san so quickly. Having her there made the meeting very productive."

The other man was caught completely off guard by the clan head's actions, but recovered quickly and responded, "You are welcome, Hiashi-sama."

The Hyuga leader nodded and continued on his way to his study. 'It seems that their opinion of me is still rather unfavorable.' He gave a mental sigh. 'That will make things much more difficult.'

Arriving at his study door, Hiashi entered the room and took his normal spot behind table. He glanced at the small clock on his desk. 'Good, I still have half an hour before I need to meet with the Council. That gives me plenty of time to finish up the rest of this paperwork.'

* * *

Hiro's mind was racing after his encounter with Hiashi. 'The clan head thanked me? He has been warming up these last few years, but did he actually progress that far?' The guard frowned slightly in thought. 'Perhaps he was only that kind because of the outcome of the meeting?' The branch family member glanced in the direction of the Hokage's building. 'If so, what was that meeting about?'

For the rest of the day, Hiro's thoughts were plagued by concerns about what had been discussed at the meeting and what the outcomes could have been.

* * *

Kurenai had been so focused on trying to find a solution to her student's situation that she had completely forgotten about her prior engagements for the day. She had almost made it to the village gates before she remembered.

'Crap! I can't believe that I almost forgot about Asuma!' She quickly changed directions and started heading towards the training grounds. It only took her a few minutes to arrive at her new destination. After arriving, Kurenai quickly spotted the bearded man training with his trench knives on the other side of the field. Deciding to take a brief break, she silently watched him. A small smile found its way onto her face. However, it faded quickly when she remembered the talk she had put off. She bit her lower lip in worry. 'Should I tell him now, or wait until I get back?'

"So, are you going to stand there watching me all day, or did you want to talk?" Asuma asked as he lit up a cigarette and glanced in Kurenai's direction, having put away his knives long ago.

Spurred by the question, Kurenai quickly made her decision and jumped down from the tree. She landed gracefully and walked over to him, offering a slight smile. He returned the smile.

Seeing an opening to steer the conversation, Kurenai spoke first. Hopefully she could keep him from asking about their previous conversation. "I'm going to Flat Rock Springs for about a week and a half."

Asuma raised an eyebrow at the sudden news. "Vacation or mission?"

"It's a vacation of sorts," she answered.

"Of sorts?" he questioned before taking a drag of his cigarette.

"I'm actually going to be keeping an eye on Naruto and Hinata during their mission there," she responded quickly.

He grinned and miraculously spoke without losing the cigarette that was placed in the corner of his mouth, "Trying to get Naruto to finally notice Hinata?"

"Something like that," she replied.

He let out a short chuckle. "They will certainly be an interesting couple if you do manage to get Naruto to notice her."

She nodded. 'But he's gone this long without seeing. Will one mission alone with her change anything?' As much as she hated herself for thinking it, she briefly wondered if it wouldn't be better if he didn't. A few seconds of silence passed before Kurenai spoke, "Asuma?"

"Yeah?"

"There might be a major issue with the Hyuga clan shortly after I get back, so be ready."

Asuma's brow furrowed. An issue with the Hyuga? That didn't sound good. "Has anyone else been informed yet?"

"Not that I know of."

He nodded and stared off into the forest in thought for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Kurenai. "Alright."

She offered a quick smile and turned to leave. "I need to get going. I'll see you when I get back."

Asuma studied her briefly. She was avoiding something. "What did you want to talk to me about before you were summoned to that meeting?"

Kurenai silently cursed her luck and answered after gathering her thoughts. She hadn't actually thought he would let it slip, but it would have been nice. There were downsides to loving a jonin. They always knew when you were hiding something. "I'll tell you when I get back. I really have to go," she said, hoping that he would let it drop.

He took another drag of his cigarette and then nodded. He wasn't going to push her to tell him right then if she didn't want to.

She saw the nod and offered another smile before she jumped up into the nearest tree. After one last glance back at Asuma, Kurenai raced off into the forest and towards Flat Rock Springs.

* * *

He silently watched the other Jonin until she disappeared into the forest. After she was gone, he continued to stare out into the forest, smoking his cigarette and thinking about the conversation. 'Something other than the Hyuga is really bothering her.'

Asuma exhaled smoke smoke in a sigh-like fashion. 'She also took the first chance she could to direct the conversation, and then tried to get away as soon as possible after she had finished. And the way she avoided finishing our talk?' He frowned, not liking the implications. 'I guess I'll just have to find out when she gets back.'

He turned his attention to the new information he had been given. 'An issue with the Hyuga, huh? Well, Tsunade will probably inform all of the Jonin and Chunin if it does get to be a problem, so I don't have to worry about telling many people. Kakashi has a right to know, though. It sounds like this issue directly involves his student.'

He stood there for a few more minutes before looking in the direction of the village. 'I might as well go tell him now. I wanted to ask him about something anyway.'

Asuma took one last puff of his cigarette before turning and walking towards the village.

* * *

After three hours of solid running, Naruto was growing impatient. Moving from his position guarding their rear flank, he caught up with his teammate. "Hey, Hinata! How close are we to getting there?"

Startled by the blond's sudden appearance next to her, it took a few seconds for her to respond. "O-oh, um, I t-think that we s-should arrive t-there in another four h-hours."

"That long?" Naruto sighed in exasperation. He really wanted to start hunting down what was causing the disappearances.

Hinata the sigh and glanced over at him in worry. 'Have I been going too slow?' She glanced down in worry down and poking her index fingers together as she ran. "I'm s-sorry."

Naruto was caught off guard by the comment. Was there something to be sorry about? He didn't think so, but then why had Hinata said she was sorry? Confused, he looked over at her. "What for?"

She continued poking her fingers together as she jumped from tree to tree. "I s-should have been m-moving faster so t-that w-we could get there sooner."

Dumbfounded by the comment, Naruto stared at her. Why would she apologize for that? Anyone else would have told him to stop complaining and deal with it. Hinata was always so kind. One of the things he liked most about her. He grinned. "Don't worry about it, Hinata! We've been running fast enough. I just didn't know that the resort was that far away from our village. Though now that I think about it, I remember you saying it would take us until morning." He laughed awkwardly. "Sorry."

She stopped poking her fingers together and shyly looked over at Naruto. A slight blush lit up her face when she saw his grin. "Are y-you sure, Naruto-kun?"

His grin widened and he nodded. "Yeah, you've been doing a great job! Way better than I could do. I probably would have gotten us lost or attacked by now. That Byakugan of yours is awesome!"

'Naruto-kun thinks my Byakugan is awesome!' Hinata's blush deepened. "I-I'm sure that isn't t-true, N-naruto-kun."

A happy laugh spilled from his mouth as he glanced forward to ensure he wouldn't fall, completely missing her blush in the process. "You know, I'm really glad that you're on this mission with me, Hinata. I don't think it would be going as smoothly as it has if someone else had been on this mission." He paused. "I like going on missions with you."

Hinata's face almost seemed to glowed from her blush, and she felt a fainting spell starting to creep up on her. Not wanting to lessen Naruto's opinion of her, Hinata did her absolute best to fight the feeling.

* * *

Naruto was about to say something else when there was a break in the canopy. The sun was clearly starting to set and that spurred his mind back to the mission. 'Should we set up camp for the night? I can keep going, but what about Hinata?' He glanced over at her. She was breathing heavily and was bright red. His brow furrowed in worry.

'She doesn't look too good. We better set up camp so she can rest,' Naruto glanced around for a good spot to stop, hoping to find a place quickly to give Hinata a break. Off to his right, Naruto spotted a clearing that looked like a good choice. 'That'll do.'

He smiled and glanced over at Hinata. "Why don't we set up camp for the night?"

The timid Hyuga managed to nod.

"Alright, follow me!" he said, taking the lead. Hinata followed him closely, still struggling with her traitorous emotions.

A few seconds later they dropped out of the trees and into the clearing. It was a small, 10 ft clearing that was surrounded by dense foliage and numerous trees. There was a stream that had broken off from a river that ran along the edge of the clearing. Orange light from the setting sun filtered through the canopy and gave the clearing a majestic look.

Naruto looked around and then grinned in satisfaction. "This is great!"

Fighting off the fainting spell, Hinata looked around as well. Enamored by the innate beauty of the forest, a content smile worked its way onto her face.

Naruto walked a little ways into the clearing and swung the pack off of his back. He grabbed the disassembled tent on the top of it and started to set it up.

As he was working, he glanced over at Hinata to check on her. Naruto smiled when he saw her admiring her surroundings. Satisfied with his decision, he turned his attention back to putting the tent together.

The noise of a tent being formed broke her from her trance. She glanced over at Naruto and immediately felt guilty for not helping. Looking for something to do, she settled on gathering loose wood for a fire.

* * *

Notes: I hope that the chapter was worth the wait. I honestly didn't expect it to take me this long to write this chapter, and I apologize for the extremely long wait. I guess everyone has figured out that you probably shouldn't believe me when I offer a time for my next chapter, so I won't even bother giving one for chapter five. I just hope it doesn't take as long to write as chapter four did. Now, for the customary questions. Did everything make sense? Was the interaction between the characters believable and in character? Was there anything that you think that I left out? Any mistakes that you can see? Any repetition that I should fix? This has been bothering my for a while, but have I been portraying Hinata and Naruto correctly? I would really like some input on the last question, but any and all input on my story is appreciated!

Edited on September 11, 2011: Same as the last three chapter edits. Just a mild spruce up. If anyone sees something that needs edited, please send me a message. Thanks, and have a great day!


	5. Chapter 5:  The Forest

**To Teach a Fox Remake Ch 5: The Forest**

Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Naruto.

Notes: I went back and reread all of my story before I started writing this chapter. There were a couple of things that didn't go exactly the way I had wanted them to, so I made some minor changes to some of the chapters. I changed the scene where Hinata is in the Hyuga compound and gets something to eat, and I changed the last scene of the last chapter. I'll explain the change here so you don't have to go back and re-read the chapters if you don't want to. Instead of having Hinata eat whatever the clan cooks were serving, I changed it to where she made two boxes of food and then ate what wasn't used for those boxes. Instead of Naruto asking Hinata to get firewood, he just checks to make sure she is alright and then focuses on setting up the tent. Hinata wants to make herself useful, so she starts gathering firewood without being asked. I hope that clears any confusion that may have surfaced during the chapter. I want to thank Senkyo and GTB Phoenix for beta reading for me.

* * *

It didn't take long for the two to complete their respective tasks. Naruto stood and grinned after putting the last stake in the ground. He turned and looked over at Hinata, whom had just set an armful of wood down a few feet away from the tent. "Great thinking, Hinata! That saves us a lot of time."

The Hyuga heiress blushed slightly and nodded as she set the wood up to be lit.

While she was doing that, he glanced around the clearing in search of a place to sit. He grinned again when he spotted a log near the edge of the clearing that was just big enough to sit two people. Knowing that he probably wouldn't be able to move it on his own, the new Chunin signed. Two clones popped into existence and looked at the original for instructions.

Naruto pointed to the log. "We need to move that log next to the fire so we'll have a place to sit. Let's do it!" The energetic man and his clones rushed over to the log and easily rolled it next to where Hinata was making the fire. Naruto stood and gave a smile and a thumbs up to his clones. "Great job. Thanks!"

"No problem," the clones chorused and then dissipated into puffs of smoke.

After glancing around the clearing once, he turned his attention to the young Hyuga to find that the fire had just been lit, and she had started digging around in her pack. 'I wonder what she's doing.' Naruto thought as he sat down on the recently moved log. He was pleasantly surprised when Hinata pulled two boxes of food out of her pack and timidly offered one to him.

"H-here, Naruto-kun. I made this f-for you before we l-left."

The blond's face broke out into his trademark grin. He had planned to heat up some of the instant ramen he had packed, but there was no way he was going to turn down Hinata's cooking. "Awesome! Thanks, Hinata!"

The heiress blushed slightly and nodded as her teammate took the offered food. She stood and looked around for a place to sit. Her blush deepened when she realized that the only place to sit, other than the ground, was on the log close to Naruto. After a few seconds of hesitation, Hinata finally sat down on the log next to Naruto.

The two opened their boxes of food and prepared to eat.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto almost shouted before he started devouring the food.

'I hope he likes it.' Hinata thought, glancing over at the blond before starting to eat as well. Though it was at a much more reasonable pace than her blond teammate.

* * *

Asuma wandered into the village at a leisurely pace. Neither of the things he wanted to talk to Kakashi about were urgent, so he wasn't going to stress himself in trying to find the legendary jonin quickly. He took a puff of his cigarette as he maneuvered through the crowd of people on the main street. 'If I were Kakashi, where would I be?'

He had already checked the memorial stone, but there had been no trace of the silver-haired ninja. Not knowing where else to search, he had gone into town. There was a slight reflection on a rooftop a nearby building that caught Asuma's eye. He smiled slightly when he realized what the reflection was from. 'Found you.'

Sarutobi took his time in making his way to the building where he had seen the reflection. Once he was there, he jumped up onto the rooftop and spotted the former ANBU member leaning against the fencing that ran along the edge of the rooftop.

"Need something, Asuma?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly, without glancing up from his book.

Asuma slowly walked over and leaned against the fence next to his friend. He took a drag of his cigarette before answering. "I just wanted to pass along some info."

"And what would that be?" Team 7's jonin asked as he turned the page in his book.

"Naruto and Hinata are on a mission to Flat Rock Springs, and Kurenai is following to attempt to get them together," the bearded ninja responded.

The masked man smiled slightly at that thought. "They'll certainly be an interesting couple if Kurenai can get through to Naruto."

Asuma grinned. "That's pretty much what I said when Kurenai told me."

"Kurenai told you?" the copycat asked, though he had expected that fact.

The smoker nodded and his expression sobered. "Yeah, and she also told me that there may be a problem with the Hyuga about the time she gets back."

That caught Kakashi's attention, and he glanced over at his fellow Leaf nin. "Did she give a reason?"

Asuma shook his head. "No, but, judging by that time frame and the reason she was going, I only see one real possibility."

The silver haired ninja turned another page in his book, but he wasn't really reading it. His mind was completely focused on the information his friend had just given him. "You think that the Hyuga are going to resist any relationship between those two?"

Team 10's sensei nodded.

Kakashi let out a sigh and pushed himself off of the fencing. "Alright, thanks for telling me." He shut his book and put in the pouch on the back of his belt.

He was about to body flicker away when Asuma spoke. "Kakashi."

Curious, the legendary jonin paused and looked at the other man. "Hm?"

The former Ninja Guardian shifted uncomfortably. "Could you give me some advice?"

Team 7's leader smiled slightly behind his mask. He was almost certain he knew what it was about. "Sure, what's up?"

Asuma took a puff of his cigarette to calm his nerves before speaking. It didn't help. "Never mind. It's not that important."

Kakashi's smile widened, but he was careful to make sure that his friend couldn't see it. He shrugged and turned to leave. "Alright, I guess I'll be going then."

The bearded ninja almost gave a sigh of relief that Kakashi had let the matter drop so easily, but then the other jonin turned back around and gave his signature eye smile. "Oh, I almost forgot to ask you. When are you planning on asking Kurenai to marry you?"

'Crap. I should have known that he wouldn't give up that easily.' Knowing that he had been caught, Asuma didn't bother trying to deny it and answered after a quick sigh. "I don't know. I want to, but, with everything that's going on, I'm not sure now is the best time."

Kakashi's expression sobered. "It might not be, but when is the best time for a ninja to get married?"

Asuma took a drag of his cigarette and looked out over the village in thought. "Thanks, Kakashi."

The former ANBU nodded. "See ya." He disappeared in a puff of smoke and leaves.

Sarutobi stood there, thinking, for another two minutes before making up his mind and jumping down into the street. He glanced up and down the street before picking a direction and maneuvering easily through the thinning crowd.

* * *

After several stressful hours of reading reports and signing papers, Tsunade finally finished her paperwork for the day. She sighed in relief and leaned back in her chair after putting the last paper on the completed pile. 'If I have to sign one more paper today, I'm going to punch something.'

The blond's brow twitched in annoyance when she heard a knock on her office door, and Shizune came into the room with another stack of papers. Tonton followed closely after the assistant.

"That better be the last stack," Tsunade growled out as the papers were placed on her desk.

Shizune nodded, relieved to be free of the heavy stack. "It is."

The Hokage huffed in irritation and snatched a paper from the top of the stack, muttering curses once again.

The med-nin glanced down at the completed pile of papers, and her eyes widened when she realized what it was. "Are all of these finished?" the assistant asked as she plucked a paper from the top of the pile. Her face lit up in excitement when she saw that it was signed. "They are! This is great, Hokage-sama!"

"Is it really that surprising? I always get the paperwork done." the Sanin responded, irritated.

Shizune nodded in agreement as she sat the paper back down on the pile. "True, but it usually takes all night for me to finally convince you to actually work on it. I might actually be able to get to bed earlier than three in the morning! Thank you, Tsunade-sama!"

The blond knew that her friend's first comment was true, so she reluctantly concentrated on the remaining paperwork.

* * *

The jonin smiled at seeing the Hokage actually working. She started to wonder what had gotten her motivated, but thought better of it and started sorting the pile into a stack she could carry. The last paper she put on the stack caught her eye. 'Tsunade accepted this? That's strange. She's turned it down the past two times it's been suggested.' She glanced over at the blond. 'I wonder what made her change her mind?' Shizune mentally shrugged. 'Oh well, this will make things easier on me once it's done.'

The assistant picked up the newly constructed stack and turned to leave. "I'll be back to get the rest of the papers in a minute, Hokage-sama."

* * *

The Sanin nodded as she read one of the reports that had just been brought in. She didn't bother looking up when she heard the door close. Tsunade sat there alone for a few minutes before she glanced over at one of her office windows. "What do you want, Kakashi?"

The jonin, whom had just leaned up against the wall next to the windows, disappeared in a burst of speed, only to reappear in front of the blond's desk. "I just stopped by to ask if you'd seen Naruto. I went by his apartment to drop off the weekly basket of fruits and vegetables." He held a basket of produce up slightly. "But he wasn't there. After checking a few more places I decided to stop by here and ask you."

The Hokage sighed and sat the report down. Though she was happy to hear that someone was actually trying to get Naruto to eat healthy food, the Sanin was slightly annoyed that Kakashi had heard that Naruto was on a mission so quickly. Gossip traveled far too quickly in her opinion, but it didn't really matter in the end. He would have had to been told anyway. "Though I'm sure that you already know this, I sent him on a mission with Hinata Hyuga to investigate the disappearances around Flat Rock Springs."

The sliver haired ninja didn't seem to hear the first part of the statement. "Really? Well, that explains why he wasn't in his apartment. I guess I'll just have to wait until he gets back. Thanks!" He turned to leave.

"Kakashi."

The former ANBU turned to face Tsunade again. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

She folded her hands in front of her. "Shortly after I sent them on that mission, Hiashi arrived in my office with Kurenai and informed me of some things. It seems that things in the Hyuga are worse than we expected and that Naruto's mission might be the cause of an upheaval within the clan."

Kakashi frowned beneath his mask. He had been hoping that the two weren't related. "Main and Branch tensions?"

She nodded and continued. "I sent Kurenai to see if anything changes in those two's relationship, and to give Naruto a test if it seems like he is starting to take an interest in Hinata. If he does love Hinata, then she is to tell us immediately and we will have to prepare to intervene. If not, then we should have nothing to worry about."

He nodded in understanding. "What is the test, exactly?"

Tsunade smiled evilly and proceeded to tell the silver haired man.

Kakashi's signature eye smile made an appearance. "That's a mean test."

"Perhaps, but if he truly loves her it won't be a difficult one."

He conceded that point and waited a few seconds before speaking. "Do you need me to do anything?"

Tsunade studied him for a few seconds before answering. "Not right now, but I'll contact you if that changes."

He nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'At least I don't have to worry about telling anyone else for a while,' the Hokage thought as she unfolded her hands and looked down at the remaining paperwork on her desk. She glared at it for a few seconds before picking up the report and resuming reading it.

Shizune walked in four minutes later with Tonton in her arms. Seeing that her friend was still busy, she took up her customary position behind Tsunade.

* * *

Kakashi appeared on a rooftop a little ways away from the Hokage's tower and started off towards his apartment. As he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, his mind turned to what he had been told. He shook his head. 'You certainly know how to get yourself right into the middle of difficult situations, don't you, Naruto?'

It only took him a few minutes to make it to his apartment. Careful not to spill the basket's contents all over the ground, the jonin unlocked his door and entered the building.

He sat the basket on the kitchen table and grabbed an apple out of it. 'I can't really do anything to help out right now, so I guess I'll just have to wait until Tsunade-sama needs me.' He lowered his mask and took a bite of the apple as he thought. 'That doesn't mean I shouldn't prepare for the worst, though.'

* * *

Naruto finished his food first and grinned in satisfaction as he sat the box down. "That was great, Hinata! Your cooking is the best!"

The Hyuga blushed at the compliment and kept her eyes focused on her food. 'Naruto-kun thinks my cooking is the best!'

The blond watched the crackling fire for about half a minute before yawning and standing. "I'm going to get some sleep." He walked over to the tent, but paused and glanced back at his teammate. "You didn't look so good earlier, so you should get some sleep too."

"I w-will. G-goodnight, Naruto-kun," Hinata stuttered out after quickly swallowing.

"Night," he said, smiling and then ducked into the tent.

She finished her food a minute later and picked up Naruto's box. After putting both of the boxes back in her pack, she sat down on the log again and watched the fire. The timid Hyuga smiled. 'This is the best day I've had in a long time.'

* * *

The jinchuriki rolled his sleeping bag out on one side of the tent and quickly got ready to sleep. He unzipped the bag halfway and crawled in. Normally at this time of the year, Naruto would have had to have the sleeping bag zipped all the way up, but autumn and the first few weeks of winter had been much warmer than usual.

Naruto settled into the bag, his arms resting on top and stared at the roof of the tent. 'Tomorrow we can start looking for what's causing those people to go missing. With Hinata's help, it won't take long at all.' He grinned at the thought of finding the cause on the first day. 'Baa-chan would be so surprised!'

It didn't take long for sleep to take hold of the normally energetic blond.

* * *

About ten minutes after Naruto had entered the tent, Hinata broke from her reflections about the day and decided to try to get some sleep. She put out the fire, picked up her pack, and quietly entered the tent, zipping it closed after she was in.

She unrolled her sleeping bag and sat her backpack down next to it. Because of many years of practice, she was ready to sleep within a minute. The young Hyuga was about to crawl into her sleeping bag when Naruto grumbled something unintelligible in his sleep. She looked over at him.

Hinata smiled at the peaceful but happy look on Naruto's face. It was a far cry from the fake smiles he used to sport. As she continued to watch him sleep, her attention fell on the three dark whisker marks on his face. The timid girl had always thought that they were sort of cute and had always wondered what they felt like. She was far too shy to ask Naruto to touch them though, and she had never had a chance like this. There had almost always been another person with them on missions.

A blush enveloped her face at the thought of touching Naruto's face. Her mind quickly began running through the possible consequences. What if he woke up while she was touching his face? Would he think she was crazy and not want to talk to her again? Would he get up and leave?

She shook her mind clear of those thoughts and turned back to her sleeping bag. Unfortunately, her curiosity got the better of her and she turned around. She quickly activated her Byakugan to make sure that no one else was around. Not seeing anyone, the timid Hyuga deactivated her bloodline and her blush took up her entire face as she reached out with her right hand.

Hinata's hand made contact with the blonde's whisker marks and she found that they didn't feel any different than skin. 'They must be changes in the skin pigment, but how could something like this happen? Oh well, they are still cute!'

Satisfied enough with the answer, she reluctantly pulled her hand away from the blond's face. Hinata smiled as she took one last look at Naruto and then turned to get in her sleeping bag. It was then that something, for her, utterly bewildering happened. In a flash, the Hyuga heiress found herself on the ground with something warm behind her.

She tried to move but found that she was trapped in a viselike grip around her upper stomach. It wasn't suffocatingly tight, but it was strong enough not to budge when she tried to move.

Still confused, she decided to find out what had been able to knock her down and get such a strong hold on her. Hinata tried to turn around to get a look at what was holding her, but she stiffened in shock and embarrassment when she felt something nuzzle into the back of her neck. "Mn…lavender."

Her blush came back with a vengeance when she realized what was holding her. 'N-Naruto-kun is hugging m-me!'

Her mind, unable to handle that information, threatened to shut down, but Hinata managed to hold onto consciousness until the blond's next action. Naruto hugged her tighter to his body and nuzzled his face deeper into her neck. "So nice," he mumbled through her hair.

It was too much for her already stressed mind to handle. Hinata produced a startled 'eep' and proceeded to pass out from embarrassment and joy. The Hyuga heir had just become a victim of Naruto's habit of clinging to things during his sleep.

* * *

Hinata woke up twenty minutes later and smiled because of the wonderful dream that she had just had. 'Naruto-kun hugged me! He was asleep, though.' Her smile didn't diminish at that thought, though. A hug from Naruto was a hug from Naruto. Even if it was imaginary.

She was about to try to get up, but her illusion was shattered by the feeling of pressure around her upper stomach and the feeling of Naruto's breath on the back of her neck. Hinata's face lit up in a deep blush and she felt herself fading into unconsciousness again. Fortunately, she managed to control her emotions and was able to stay conscious.

It took her about a minute to regain control of her emotions. Not wanting to cause an embarrassing situation when Naruto woke up, she reluctantly decided to try and escape the blond's grasp. Her first attempt to loosen his hold failed miserably. The movement had caused Naruto to hold her closer and tighter. His subconscious wasn't going to let the amazing warmth that was Hinata get away. The heiress let out another 'eep' at the tightened grip, but she quickly recovered and tried again.

After the fourth failed attempt, Hinata gave up and shyly snuggling into the orange and black clad ninja. If she couldn't escape, then she might as well enjoy it while it lasted, right? Her blush and smile had never faded, but she slowly began to become more and more comfortable with being held by Naruto. The combination of that comfort and the warmth given off by the blond caused Hinata to slip into sleep a few minutes later.

* * *

At about two in the morning, an owl flew through the forest looking for some prey. It landed on a branch and scanned the ground for any movement. It spotted a mouse foraging for food on the forest floor and dove down towards it. The mouse never know what had hit it. The owl, landing with talons first, brought a quick end to the small rodent. Not wanting another predator to steal its prize, the owl grabbed the mouse's body firmly in its beak and flew up into the trees. It landed on a large branch, but the branch had been long dead and gave out under the weight of the bird of prey. The owl was surprised, but it quickly retook flight and found another branch to enjoy its meal. The branch, however, could not fly and crashed to the forest floor about fifteen feet from the tent.

* * *

Woken by the noise, Naruto groggily opened his eyes and looked around the tent. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so he closed his eyes and tried to get to sleep again. It was about that time when he noticed that there was a slight smell of lavender and his arms were wrapped around something warm.

Confused, he opened his eyes again and pulled his head back slightly to try to get a good look at what he was holding. It took him a few seconds to figure it out because of the lack of light, but he realized what was in his arms. 'Crap! I'm holding Hinata! How did this happen?'

He began panicking. 'What do I do?'

The blond calmed himself down enough to think. He was fairly certain that she was asleep, so he decided to try to let her go without waking her up. Naruto, as calmly as he could, loosened his grip on the lavender eyed Hyuga and rolled on his back so that only his left arm made contact with her. It was still pinned under Hinata. Not sure what else to do, he slowly pulled his arm out and rolled over onto his right shoulder once it was free.

* * *

The sudden loss of warmth caused Hinata to wake up. She opened her eyes, but she couldn't see much because it was so dark. The Hyuga activated her bloodline and saw that Naruto had let go of her and had rolled over on to his other side.

Both saddened and relieved that she was free, Hinata, as quietly as she could, moved over to her sleeping bag and crawled into it.

She took one last glance at Naruto before deactivating her Byakugan and trying to get back to sleep. It took a few minutes, as her mind was racing with the fact that she had 'slept with' Naruto, but she eventually slipped into sleep once again.

* * *

A few seconds after he had let Hinata go, Naruto heard her crawl into her sleeping bag. She didn't seem to have noticed, so he gave a mental sigh of relief. 'I hope Hinata doesn't know that I was holding her or she might…' His thoughts trailed off on that sentence. What would Hinata do if she found out? 'If I had done that to Sakura, she would have hit me, but what would Hinata do? I know she wouldn't hit me. She's too nice for that. Would she yell at me?' He shook his head. 'No, she's too quiet and nice to do that.'

Naruto laid there, trying to figure out what his teammate would do if she knew that he had been holding her for the next few minutes, but, in the end, nothing he came up with seemed to fit. He mentally berated himself for not knowing Hinata better. 'I've had plenty of missions with her. I should know how she would react to this, shouldn't I?'

He thought back to all of the time he had spent with the lavender clad Hyuga and started listing off things he knew about her. 'Her cooking is awesome, and she's a great fighter. She's kind of quiet and weird, but very nice. She's a Hyuga and is part of the…main house? She's related to Neji and they both live in the Hyuga district. Her parents are…I don't know. Doesn't she have a sister?' When he was done, Naruto realized that he didn't know much about his friend at all. He growled at his own inattentiveness when it came to information about his friends. 'I'm going to spend most of this mission finding out more about Hinata.'

He laid there for another five minutes before his mind stopped racing. One last thought crossed his mind before he drifted off to sleep. 'I miss that warmth.'

* * *

Notes: Well, there is chapter 5 of the Remake, and I hope you enjoyed it! I'm pretty much up to where I was before I decided to rewrite TTAF. I just wish I could actually get myself to concentrate on writing more and at a faster pace than a chapter almost every two months. That is just atrocious, and I apologize for the wait. As always, I would love to hear any comments, issues, or concerns you have about the story. Thanks for reading!

Edited September 11, 2011: Again, just a quick revision. Not much was changed for this one. I hope that's because my writing has gotten better over time and not because I'm getting tired/lazy. Anyway, if you see anything that needs fixing, tell me. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6:  Training

**To Teach a Fox Remake Ch 6: Training**

Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Naruto.

Notes: Blah, blah, blah, blah, (Insert annoying complaining about own inability to complete a chapter in a timely manner), blah. (Generic comment about hoping the reader enjoys the late chapter).

* * *

It was almost eight in the morning when light from the rising sun broke through the forest canopy and a beam of light landed on the Hyuga heiress' face. Her eyes instinctively squinted and she started to stir from her peaceful sleep.

Hinata stretched slightly and smiled as she opened her eyes. Her mind wasted no time in turning to what had happened the night before. 'I fell asleep in Naruto-kun's arms.' Her face immediately lit up in a blush, though it was less prominent than the night before.

The young ninja laid there for about a minute, basking in the memories of the previous night, before the thought of breakfast passed through her mind. 'I am a little hungry, and I'm sure Naruto will be when he wakes up. I could fix something to eat for the both of us.' Liking the idea, she quietly worked her way out of the sleeping bag and left the tent after grabbing her pack.

Once she was outside, Hinata sat down on the log and sifted through her pack for cookware and something edible. It didn't take her long to remember that she hadn't packed any cookware or food other than the boxes they had eaten last night and a few small snacks that had met a similar fate.

Disheartened, she sat her pack down next to her feet and watched the fire. 'What can I do? Naruto-kun has instant ramen with him. I could fix that…but what if he was saving that ramen for later?' She could feel a blush creeping onto her face at the thought of going through the blond's bag. She quickly decided against that course of action. 'I don't think I would be able to look through his backpack anyway.'

Disappointed that she wouldn't be able to make breakfast and not having anything else to do, she looked around the clearing for something to do. Hinata's eyes wandered over to the stream. 'I could practice my water jutsu until Naruto-kun wakes up.'

The timid Hyuga stood and walked over to the small stream to start training. 'I'll just have to make it up to him by helping him find the cause of these disappearances as quickly as possible.' She took a deep breath and began signing.

* * *

Naruto had heard Hinata wake and then leave the tent a few minutes later. He hadn't gotten much solid sleep after the incident earlier that night. For every hour or so of sleep, the jinchuriki was awake for about twenty to thirty minutes. In fact, he had woken up about five minutes before his teammate had.

The blond shifted from his right side to his back and stared up at the ceiling of the tent. 'That was the worst night of sleep I've had in forever. Why did this have to happen on my first mission as a team leader?'

He groaned and tiredly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up. 'Oh well, I might as well stay up. It means we can get an earlier start on searching for the cause of those disappearances.'

The blond wormed his way out of the sleeping bag. He paused when his eyes caught sight of his teammate's sleeping bag. His mind immediately brought up the memories of the night before. There was a slight warmth in his face as he thought about holding Hinata. The emotions evoked felt foreign to him and he quickly pushed them away with the thought of what Hinata's reaction would be. 'I hope she isn't going to be mad.'

After getting dressed, he left the tent and glanced around, looking for the indigo haired Chunin. He saw her backpack sitting next to the log and set his pack down next to it, but he didn't see its owner. 'I wonder where she is?'

There was a large splash somewhere from behind the tent. His eyes darted over to the source of the noise and spotted Hinata standing near the water's edge. Relieved to see his friend, he started to walk over, but paused when he saw the Hyuga heiress start weaving signs. 'I don't remember Hinata ever using jutsu that needed those hand signs. Did she learn some new jutsu when I was gone?' He decided to wait to see what his partner was about to do and stopped to watch.

Hinata quickly finished signing and a large section of water started to rise out of the stream. The water formed into a water clone after a few seconds and turned to face the young Hyuga.

Naruto stared in partial awe, completely forgetting about his previous worry. 'Hinata knows water jutsu? That's cool! I wonder if she can teach me some?' He grinned and jogging over to Hinata. "That's awesome, Hinata! When did you start learning water jutsu?"

* * *

Hinata smiled when the clone formed perfectly. 'I'm not having as much trouble keeping the water in shape as I was before.'

She was about to try to create another water clone when she heard the blond. Both the clone and her blushed at his sudden appearance and then turned to face him. She hadn't expected him to be up so early, but she was happy to see him nevertheless. The compliment was also appreciated. "Um…I s-started learning water jutsu t-two and a half months ago." The original stammered out.

Naruto's grin widened. "Cool! You must know a lot of water jutsu then."

Two blushes deepened. "I-I know a f-few jutsu."

"Awesome! Do you think you could teach me some?" He asked, grin firmly in place.

'N-Naruto-kun wants me to teach him some w-water jutsu!' That thought made her concentration on the water clone falter. That was enough to destabilize the clone and sent it crashing to the ground in a mass of water. 'Oh no!' Hinata's blush grew in embarrassment, but the blond didn't seem to notice the dispersed clone. He was completely focused on his teammate. "I-I don't think I-I would be the best t-teacher. I s-still don't r-really know all that much."

The blond's grin faltered slightly, but he was still smiling. "That's alright."

The timid Hyuga saw the falter and started poking her index fingers together as she looked down at the ground. 'I can't let Naruto-kun down again.' She shyly glanced up at him. "Um…I g-guess I could try to t-teach you something though."

The Naruto's face lit up in excitement at that. "Really?" She nodded and he jumped for joy. "You're the best, Hinata!"

The lavender eyed Hyuga felt her face start burning when she heard that, but she quickly focused on teaching the blond how to perform water jutsu. "The f-first thing that I had to l-learn to use water jutsu w-was this." She crouched down next to the stream and placed her hand just above the surface of the water. 'I hope that I can teach this to him correctly.' After a few seconds of concentration, the water below her hand had started to spin slightly. After another few seconds there was a small whirlpool under her hand.

The jinchuriki watched in amazement. "That's really cool! How are you doing that?"

Hinata pulled her hand away from the water and looked up at Naruto. The whirlpool faded away without chakra to keep it going. "I was t-taught to imagine the c-current of the water and to slowly r-redirect it into a circle and k-keep it spinning around, getting smaller and smaller."

As the Hyuga explained what she had been taught to do, she saw a flash of understanding cross his face. 'Does he understand it already?'

The blond, with a look of concentration on his face, crouched down and placed his hand over the water. Hinata smiled as she watched the water slowly start to spin in a circle under his hand. She was somewhat surprised that he had done it so quickly, but it made sense when she thought about his Rasengan. It took a little more time for Naruto to create a whirlpool, but he did manage to make one almost as large as Hinata's had been. He glanced over at the Hyuga heiress and grinned. "What's next?"

Hinata felt her face start burning again. "W-well, that is the only e-exercise that I had t-to learn before I started working on j-jutsu."

"You mean that I can start learning water jutsu now?" Naruto questioned excitedly.

She nodded and paused to think. "T-try this jutsu." The Hyuga slowly signed to let the blond see the hand signs. Once she was done signing, a powerful stream of water shot out of her mouth and slammed against the bark of a tree a short distance away. The water stopped a second later and she turned to her friend again. "That is c-called Water Style: Raging Waves." She smiled slightly at the excited look on Naruto's face as he jumped up.

"So it's just Dragon, Tiger, and Hare, right?" He asked.

Hinata nodded and watched Naruto as he prepared to try the jutsu. "Dragon. Tiger. Hare." She heard him whisper to himself as he made the correct hand signs for the jutsu. He brought his hand up to his mouth, and a small jet of water shot out of his mouth and landed in the stream about a foot away. He frowned and started signing again, only to reach the same result.

The blond growled at himself in irritation and sat back on the grass. "I can't get it!"

'That was almost as far as I got my first time trying that jutsu.' Hinata hadn't expected Naruto to do so well the first time, but she saw that he was frustrated and offered a small, encouraging smile. "D-don't worry, Naruto-kun. It t-took me a lot of time and p-practice to g-get it right. Keep trying and I-I know you w-will get it soon."

He glanced over at his companion and slowly smiled. "You're right. I can't give up after only trying for a few minutes. I've never given up before, and I'm not going to start now!" He sat forward and focused on the exercise again, determination clearly written on his face.

The heiress' smile grew slightly as she watched her crush trying to perform the jutsu. 'I wonder how long it will take him to master this jutsu?'

* * *

There was a knock on Hiashi's office door. The clan head stirred from his sleep and sat up. "What is it?" he asked groggily.

"Your breakfast is ready, Hiashi-sama. Shall I bring it in?" was the response from branch house member on the other side of the door.

'Is it that early already?' He quickly ran his hands over his clothes in a vain attempt to straighten out the wrinkles created by his impromptu nap. Noticing that it wasn't working, he gave up on that venture and picked up a piece of paperwork that he had been working on the night before. "Very well, come in."

The door slid open a few seconds later and one of the branch house servants came in and sat a plate of food and tea down on the Hyuga leader's desk. The branch house member poured a cup of tea for Hiashi and then stood back. "Is there anything else you require, Hiashi-sama?"

He glanced as the breakfast and tea before responding. "No, this is fine. Thank you."

The servant stood there for a second's hesitation before bowing. "Of course, Hiashi-sama." She turned and left the room.

The clan head waited until the door slid shut before he gave a tired sigh and sat the paperwork back down on his desk. He wearily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and took a sip of the tea after picking it up. 'This is the fourth time in the past six days that I've fallen asleep at my desk while trying to get this paperwork done.'

Hiashi sat the cup down a second later and massaged his forehead in an attempt to work out the headache that had been lingering since his meeting with the Hyuga Council the night before. 'They keep pushing harder and harder for me to name Hanabi the heiress. I wonder how long it will take the Council to get tired of my stalling and decide to make their move?'

Hiashi stopped massaging his head and picked up the tea cup again to take another sip. 'Hopefully I will have a way to stop them by the time that they do.'

* * *

Naruto sighed in frustration as he sat staring at the stream. 'Why can't I get it to go any further?' He had managed to increase the amount of water he shot out a little bit, but nothing more than that. A thought crossed his mind. 'Hinata knows how to do this and she's been watching me the entire time. Maybe she can tell me what I've been doing wrong.'

The blond glanced over at Hinata. She was sitting near Naruto, smiling while she watched a bird singing on a tree branch across the stream.

"Hey, Hinata?"

"Hm?" She looked over at him with inquisitive eyes and a kind smile that had yet to fade.

There was a very slight pulling feeling in Naruto's chest that made him pause. 'What the?' He ignored the feeling after a second and asked his question. "You've been watching me try to do this the entire time, right?"

"Y-yes," she responded.

"Then can you tell me what I'm doing wrong?"

The lavender eyed teen looked a little surprised, but she quickly gathered herself and gave him an answer. "Uh…I t-think you did e-everything correct. Even t-the amount of chakra you have been putting into i-it is right. I don't k-know why you have not g-got it yet." She started poking her fingers together and looked at the ground. "I'm s-sorry."

Naruto tilted his head slightly. 'Why does she keep saying that when there isn't anything to be sorry about?' He watched her for a few more seconds before speaking. "Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything wrong."

He grew even more confused when he saw her face start sporting a reddish hue. 'She can't be sick. That was too fast. Is she mad at me? But why would she be mad at me for this?' The teen watched his friend carefully for her reaction, though he didn't think that anger was the reason her face had turned red.

"I w-was a-apologizing for not b-being able to h-help you," she responded despite her renewed stuttering.

The blond frowned slightly in thought. 'It defiantly isn't anger. Then what is making her face go red like that, and why did her stuttering get worse?' He shook his head to clear his mind and responded to his companion. "You don't have to apologize for that." Naruto smiled. "I may be stuck now, but I'll figure it out eventually. Thanks for teaching me, Hinata!"

He saw her nod and looked back down at the stream. His mind drifted back to trying to figure his friend out. 'I know I've heard of something like this before. I just can't remember where or what it means. Dang it!'

Noticing the sun's reflection in the water, he glanced up to see exactly where it was. Seeing that it was fairly high in the sky, his mind turned towards the mission. 'We should probably pack up and leave soon. The sooner we get there, the sooner we get to start looking.'

Naruto stood up and offered his hand to his teammate to help pull her up. "We should probably get going."

He saw her nod and hesitate briefly before taking his hand. He also noticed that her face was more red than before. He cataloged that information in the back of his mind to think about later. After he had pulled her to her feet, the two went back to the tent and started taking it apart.

* * *

Kurenai stopped on the branch she had landed on, found a place to hide, and quickly created a genjutsu to make herself blend in with the tree. 'What was that?' She silently scanned the forest around her for anything out of the ordinary. The jonin had just packed up her camp and had started off towards the resort town when she had felt an ominous felling sweep over her.

After three minutes of not seeing anything, Kurenai cautiously dropped the genjutsu and walked out from her hiding place. She frowned in thought as she took one last glance around. 'I don't like this.' With that thought running through her mind, she shot off towards Flat Rock Springs at a much faster pace than she had originally planned.

* * *

The instant that the Konoha Jonin was out of visual range and ear shot, two figures walked out from behind a tree about twenty feet from where Kurenai had hidden. The taller of the two looked over at his teammate. "Why'd you stop me? I could have taken her out easily."

The shorter member of the two man team shot an emotionless glance at the taller man before he started walking. "Perhaps, but it would have been more problematic than helpful in the end. She might just be the key to finding what we're looking for."

The other man watched his teammate walk away for a few seconds before following after. "If you say so, but I get to kill her if she doesn't turn out to be useful."

The shorter man made no response, and his teammate slowly grinned, taking the silence as an acceptance of his 'request'.

* * *

About ten minutes after they had started packing up camp, the two Chunin were ready to continue with the mission. Naruto looked over at Hinata. "Ready?"

He saw her nod, so he jumped into the nearest tree and started off. 'How long is it going to take us to find the reason people have gone missing? I wonder what's causing it?' He grimaced slightly at his next thought. 'I hope it's not a ghost.'

"Um…Naruto-kun."

Hearing Hinata, he glanced back at her. "Yeah?"

He watched her poke her index fingers together once before she responded. "We…we are g-going the w-wrong way."

'Dang it! Now I look like an idiot…again. How can I lead a mission if I don't even know where I'm going?' Naruto mentally berated himself as he stopped on the next branch. The Chunin sighed mentally and turned around to face his friend, plastering his normal 'I-did-something-idiotic-grin' on his face. "Uh…would you mind leading then, Hinata?"

"O-okay," the lavender eyed Hyuga responded with a sympathetic smile before turning around and running off in the opposite direction.

'I'm really glad Hinata is my teammate on this mission. Everyone else would have made fun of me for going the wrong way,' the blond thought as he ran after his friend.

* * *

Notes: I hope that you enjoyed reading chapter six! I am slightly happy that it didn't take a full two months to get this chapter up, but I am very irritated with myself because I could have easily had this chapter done about a week ago. As such, I have decided to implement a new system. From now on I am going to put how many words I have written for the next chapter on my profile page and update it every time I add more. That way anyone can see how far I am on the next chapter. For all those who decide to use this system, I fully encourage you to send me an angry PM if you see that I haven't worked on my story for a while. That will hopefully keep me motivated to get the next chapter out sooner than this chapter. As always, I would love to hear any comments, issues, or concerns about my story. Have a great week!

Also, I would like to respond to Sexy Kurenai's review here because I was unable to send them a PM. Thank you for the review! The reason that I went with the Kurenai x Asuma pairing was because of its canon nature. If I start writing another Naruto story that takes place farther back in the Naruto timeline, I will probably explore different pairings for most of the characters.

Edited on September 11, 2011: As with the others, it was a quick polishing. The only major thing added was a little more reflection on Naruto's part after he wakes up. If you see anything that is awkward or needs changed, please tell me! Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7:  Flat Rock Springs

**To Teach a Fox Remake Ch 7: Flat Rock Springs**

Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Naruto.

Notes: I want to thank Nalfein, GTB Phoenix, and Musicfreak77 for beta reading for me. It's a miracle! I managed to get a decent sized chapter out within a month! Anyway, down to business. I hope that this chapter is up to par with the others, and I hope that you all enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Kurenai finally stopped running full speed when she caught sight of the gates of the resort town. She slowed down to a walk to enter the village, because running would have done nothing but draw attention. And attention would do nothing but jeopardize her mission.

She was about to enter the village proper when she saw two guards walking towards her. "Halt!"

'What now?' She did as she was told and waited for the guards to walk over to her. "Are you the ninja sent to figure out the cause of the disappearances?" asked the shorter of the two guards.

Kurenai shook her head. "No. I'm just here for some vacation time."

A mixture of disappointment and understanding crossed the guard's face before the two guards moved to the side to allow her through. "In that case, enjoy your stay here in Flat Rock Springs."

"Thank you," Team 8's jonin said before entering the prosperous village.

As she was walking down the somewhat empty street, a tiny frown found it's way onto Kurenai's face. 'Hinata and Naruto must not be here yet, otherwise the guard wouldn't have asked me that. I hope that those guards don't tell them that there is another Leaf nin here. That could jeopardize the plan.'

She forced that worry to the back of her mind and turned her thoughts towards the actual implementation of Tsunade's plan. 'How am I going to do this? Hinata's Byakugan is going to be very difficult to get past.'

* * *

Shizune was so happy that she could feel a smile slowly finding its way onto her face. Today was the day that the re-cataloging of the records room was set to begin.

After processing the paperwork for the process the night before, the med nin had began getting things ready for the massive undertaking. She had spent almost an hour the night before brainstorming ideas of how to make the documentation system more effective, as well as making a list of people to ask to help with the re-cataloging. All but one of the Chunin on her list were currently gathered in front of the Hokage's desk. She would have been somewhat concerned that one of them wasn't there, but she knew that Tsunade had sent him on an errand earlier.

'He'll probably be back soon.' She thought happily as she watched the assembled ninja. 'I can't wait! My job will be so much easier after this project is done!' Her smile solidified at her last thought.

* * *

The room was filled with the hushed murmurs of the five gathered Chunin. Almost everyone in the room was discussing the reason for the summon they had received either late the previous night or early that morning.

Kotetsu Hagane looked over at his longtime friend Izumo Kamizuki. "How much do you want to bet that we got summoned here just to carry some more paperwork around, or something like that?"

Izumo glanced over at his friend with an incredulous look on his face. "Are you crazy? I can't afford to bet on anything after that last card game with Kakashi." The Chunin shuttered at that thought while his friend had to force back a laugh. Izumo gathered himself and continued a second later. "Besides, why does it matter why we were summoned?"

The bandaged Chunin's face took up an exasperated look. "Because I thought that we had escaped being Hokage-sama's personal gofers a while ago. I don't want to do that job again!"

Once more Izumo fixed his friend with another incredulous look. "Why? It may not be dangerous, but it can be just as important as a field mission!"

Knowing that he wasn't going to be able to change his friend's views on the matter, Kotetsu sighed and shook his head before looking towards the front of the room. "Why haven't we started yet?"

Fine with dropping the subject, Izumo shrugged and looked towards the front of the room as well. "Maybe we're waiting for someone?"

Just as the Chunin had finished speaking, there was a knock on the office door. "Come in," Tsunade said as she turned from looking out of her window to face the door.

The door opened to reveal Wolf. He walked into the room and took up a position near the back of the room.

Kotetsu smirked when he saw the new Chunin enter the room. "Hey, look. It's Hokage-sama's newest errand boy."

Izumo ignored his friend's comment and focused on Tsunade.

* * *

'Time to get this started,' the blonde thought as she leaned forward in her chair and looked at the group over her folded hands. The room went silent and she smirked when she noticed that. 'I guess this job isn't entirely perk-less.'

"I've summoned all of you here to take part in a C rank mission, but don't let that designation fool you. This is a very important task. One I wouldn't assign to just anyone." She paused to watch the reactions of the Chunin and smirked in amusement at seeing a couple of them getting excited.

The blonde had been careful to keep her smirk hidden behind her hands, so the Chunin were caught off guard by what she said next. "Your job is to help Shizune with going through every report and document in the records room and re-catalog them."

Tsunade's smirk turned into an evil grin when she saw the disappointed and crushed expressions on the young faces in front of her. She found messing with those younger than her immensely entertaining. It almost made up for the fact that Shizune had found her second hidden sake stash. Almost.

Satisfied with the outcome of her prank, the Hokage continued with the briefing. "The last time the records room was re-cataloged was eighteen years ago, so I think it's about time to change that. You will be under the direct command of Shizune for the duration of this mission. Now, get going! I want those records re-cataloged as quickly and accurately as possible!"

She watched her assistant leave the room with the group of Chunin before turning to look out of her office window once again. 'I hope that this turns up something useful, otherwise things could get very ugly.'

* * *

'Looks like he was right. I'm glad I didn't take that bet,' Izumo thought as he glanced over at his friend after hearing what they would be doing for the mission. Kotetsu seemed less than amused and gave an exasperated sigh before turning and leaving the room. Izumo silently followed the rest of the group out of the room and down the hallway.

* * *

Upon entering the records room, Shizune turned to face her helpers.

She motioned to the many shelves full of boxes and papers behind her. "As most of you probably know, this is the room where all records, reports, and documents that pertain to the day-to-day workings of the Leaf Village are kept. Our job is to go through and make sure that every paper in here has been documented as being in here. We are also going to use this as a way to set up a new, more orderly documentation system. That way it will be much easier to find documents if they're needed again. Any questions so far?"

The jonin scanned the group for anyone that looked like they had a question. Not seeing any, she continued with the mission briefing. "I understand that this is going to be a large and tedious task, so I decided on a work schedule where two people will be working in here at all times. It will essentially be the normal three shift system. Are there any questions before I announce what times you all will be working?"

She glanced over the group and noticed that a hand was up. "Yes, Koji?"

"Are these going to be normal shift hours?" The Chunin asked.

Shizune nodded. "Yes, we will be using the standard shift hours. Any other questions?"

Not seeing any hands up, she continued with the briefing. "Haruo and Koji will have first shift, Izumo and Kotetsu will have second shift, and Wolf and Osamu will have third shift."

After she had finished speaking, Shizune motioned towards the numerous empty boxes on the floor next to her. "Once you know what a document deals with, please place it in the box corresponding to it's topic. Then you should write the document's title down on the paper attached to the box so that we know what's in there. Any questions?"

The group remained silent, so the jonin finished the briefing. "Alright, everyone but Haruo and Koji may leave, but don't forget to come back for your shift."

The four unneeded Chunin funneled out of the room while Shizune happily helped the other two get started on the massive undertaking.

* * *

The two person Chunin team finally arrived at the gates of Flat Rock Springs after almost four hours of travel. Naruto smiled when he caught sight of the large and ornately decorated wooden gates. They weren't as large as the Gates of Konoha, but they were large enough to make an impression. 'We finally made it! Now we can get started on trying to find the cause of those disappearances!'

He glanced at Hinata, whom was still leading, and his smile widened slightly. 'With Hinata's help, this shouldn't take long at all!'

The blond saw that his teammate was slowing down and he followed suit. The two came to a stop just outside of the town's gates, and Naruto walked up beside the Hyuga heiress. "Thanks, Hinata! I never would have found this place without you!" He saw a slight redness appear on her face and his smile slipped slightly. 'There it is again! I've got to figure out what keeps causing that! It's driving me crazy!'

The jinchuriki was broken from his thoughts when Hinata responded. "I-I'm sure that y-you w-would have found it, Naruto-kun"

Naruto broke into a grin at the comment. "Maybe once I found someone to point me in the right direction, but there's no way I could have found it as quickly as with your help." His excitement at being able to actually start the mission doubling, Naruto turned and looked at the town, but, in doing so, he didn't see Hinata's blush deepen. "Let's get started!" He started off towards the gates.

"O-okay," the Hyuga said, following closely after the blond.

The two had just crossed into the town when Naruto saw a couple guards walking towards them. "Halt!"

'Why are they stopping us?' Naruto wondered as he stopped and waited for the guards to make it to them.

The guards walked up to the two, and the shorter of the two guards spoke. "You are the ninja sent here to find a solution to our problem, correct?"

The blond grinned. "If you're talking about the disappearances then yep!"

Naruto watched as the guard studied them for a few seconds before nodding and speaking again. "Then welcome to Flat Rock Springs. Our mayor, Nao Hara, would like to speak with you before you start your search in earnest."

'The mayor wants to speak with us?' The hyperactive ninja was caught off guard by the comment, so he glanced over at Hinata. She didn't seem worried. In fact, he noticed that she didn't seem as red in the face. Naruto smiled slightly and then he looked back over at the guard before grinning and nodding. "Alright, just point us in the right direction and we'll talk to him."

The taller guard pointed in the direction of a decently large building on the slight incline of the mountain. "He works in the large building between the two major springs."

It was only then that Naruto noticed that about a fourth of the town was built on the side of a mountain. 'Hey! I remember this place now! Ero-sennin brought me here about three weeks into my training trip.' He brought his attention back to the guards and grinned. "Alright, thanks!"

The guard nodded. "You're welcome, and good luck with your mission."

Naruto watched the two guards walk back to their post for a few seconds before he looked over at the heiress. "Do you know why the mayor of the town would want to speak with us?"

Hinata looked surprised by the question at first, but she quickly responded. "I-I'm not sure. He m-may want to pass a-along some information, or h-he may just want t-to see who w-was sent."

'That makes sense.' He thought as he looked at the ornate building. Knowing that Hinata had more experience in things such as this than him, Naruto decided to ask for her advise. "What do you think we should do?"

"I t-think it would be a g-good idea t-to see the mayor n-now," responded the Hyuga after a few seconds pause to think.

"Right." Naruto said as he started off towards the town hall, Hinata following close behind.

* * *

Hinata was surprised by the almost entirely empty streets and shops in the town. 'This town was very busy the last time I was here with Oto-san. Have these disappearances really caused this severe decline in visitors?'

A flyer for a festival caught her eye. 'That festival starts in a week. Is that why we were contacted by the mayor of this town?' She pushed those thoughts aside when she noticed they were at the town hall.

Hinata blushed slightly when Naruto opened the door for her. He had his signature grin on his face. "After you."

"T-thank y-you." The Hyuga managed before entering the building. Had she not have visited multiple palaces with her father during his duties as clan head, Hinata probably would have been amazed by the intricate and obviously expensive décor in the town hall. Even though she wasn't completely enthralled with the scene, she still found it quite amazing. 'This rivals some of the palaces I have visited.'

She glanced back at Naruto when she heard the door behind her close. She felt a smile tug at her mouth when she saw Naruto's wonder filled expression.

"Wow!" The blond said as he glanced around the fair sized room.

Hinata nodded in agreement and was about to speak when a short, middle-aged man walked up to them. "Excuse me, but is there something I can help you two with?"

The appearance of the man broke Naruto from his wonder. He turned to face him. "Yeah, we're here to find the cause of the disappearances, and we were told to talk to the mayor. Can you point us to him?"

The Hyuga heiress saw the man's face light up in excitement.

"You're here to solve that problem? Excellent! I shall take you to Hara-sama right away!" The man turned excitedly and started walking towards the stairway on the far side of the room. He glanced back. "This way, please!"

Hinata looked over at Naruto. The blond seemed surprised by the man's excitement, but he quickly recovered and grinned. "Right," he said, starting after the secretary.

The Hyuga quickly followed after the two.

* * *

The two Leaf nin followed the man until he stopped and knocked on a rather large and ornate door. The three heard a muffled 'Yes?' from the other side of the door, and the secretary poked his head through the door. "The ninja from the Leaf Village are here."

There was a rustling of papers. "Excellent! Send them in!"

The man nodded and turned to look at the two ninja. "Hara-sama will see you now." He stood to the right of the door to allow them through.

The blond grinned. "Great! Thanks!"

"It was no trouble at all," the man responded with a smile.

Naruto entered the room and saw a bespectacled man in his seventies sitting behind a large wooden desk. The gray haired man waved the two ninja towards him. "Please come closer. My eyesight isn't what it used to be," the mayor said. "I promise I don't bite," he added with a chuckle.

The blond grinned at the joke and stopped right in front of the mayor's desk. He bowed slightly and then addressed the mayor. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and this is Hinata Hyuga," he said, indicating the shy teen to his right. "We're here to find the cause of the disappearances."

The older man adjusted his glasses and quickly scanned the two ninja. Naruto became curious when he saw the mayor's eyes light up in recognition when he looked at his teammate. 'Does he know Hinata?'

The older man smiled and spoke. "Allow me to welcome you to Flat Rock Springs, Uzumaki-san and Hyuga-san! My name is Nao Hara, and I am the mayor of this humble town." He chuckled at his own joke before continuing. "I am very glad to hear that you are here to solve that rather irritating situation. It has caused this town no small amount of distress." He looked over at the indigo-haired Hyuga. "I suspect that it has caused some problems for your father as well."

Curious, Naruto looked over at his teammate. She seemed surprised to be addressed, but she quickly responded. "I-it h-has, Hara-sama."

Naruto frowned in confusion as he turned his attention back to the older man. 'How have a few disappearances here caused problems for Hinata's dad?'

The mayor nodded to the timid ninja's response and sat back in his chair. "As I said, I am glad that you are here. The disappearances have gotten worse in the past few weeks, and that has caused fewer and fewer people to stop by my town. I wasn't too concerned until recently, however. Our week-long winter festival is starting in a week, and I'm concerned that not even half of the normal turnout will arrive." He sighed. "That festival is extremely financially important to this town. I hope that you can fix this situation quickly, otherwise this town will suffer greatly."

Naruto felt his determination double. "You can count on us! We'll find and stop the cause of these disappearances!"

Nao Hara smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, Uzumaki-san. If you don't mind me asking, when do you plan to start searching?"

"We're going to start searching right away!" Naruto announced rather loudly, his determination and excitement showing on his face.

The older man's smile widened. "Then I shall let you two go so that you may begin your search." He held up a packet of papers. "Here are all the reports from the search teams I sent out, and all of the reports from the investigation squads that pertain to the disappearances. I hope that they will be of use. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" The young Leaf nin took the packet and put it in his backpack before turning to leave.

Hinata turned to leave as well, but the two stopped when they heard the mayor speak again. "Oh, I almost forgot!"

They turned back around and watched as the bespectacled man quickly wrote something down on a piece of paper and held it up after he was finished. "Here, take this paper and give it to any of the owners of the hotels in the town."

Naruto took the paper and quickly read it. "You're letting us stay at any hotel we want for free," Naruto asked excitedly as he looked up at the mayor.

The older man smiled and nodded. "Of course! What kind of host would I be if I didn't?"

He quickly glanced between the two, smiling slightly. "I would recommend staying at the Northern Springs Hotel. They have some of the best accommodations in town, and the owner is a very pleasant woman."

The blond grinned. "Alright, thanks!"

"It is the least I can do for the ones that are going to solve such a irritating problem, Uzumaki-san. Oh, and please remember to not push yourselves so hard that you forget to enjoy your time here."

"We'll try not to," Naruto responded with a grin before he turned to leave the room.

"Thank you, Hara-sama," Hinata bowed before following after her energetic teammate.

* * *

The ninja team left the mayor's office and made their way out onto the main street, which was slightly more crowded than before. The lavender-eyed heiress had expected Naruto to take off in a direction, but was caught off guard when he stopped right outside of the town hall's door.

"I-is everything a-alright, Naruto-kun?" she asked after a few seconds of waiting.

The blond looked back at her and nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not sure what to do now." He frowned. "I mean, I want to start searching now, but we should probably take some time to look at these reports. What do you think we should do?"

Hinata was slightly surprised by the question and took a moment to think before she responded. "Well, I t-think that w-we could do b-both at the same t-time."

"How can we do both?" Naruto asked, squinting in confusion. That confusion disappeared a second later, right before he answered his own question. "Have one person search while the other reads the reports?"

The heiress nodded while she tried to keep a slightly disappointed look off of her face. "T-that will w-work. I w-was going suggest that y-you could create s-some clones to search w-while we read the r-reports."

The blond's face lit up in excitement and in a grin. "That's a great idea, Hinata! You're a genius!"

The Hyuga felt her face starting to burn from the compliment as Naruto signed.

Twenty clones popped into existence next to the two. They all looked to the original for instructions. "Start searching the roads leading here for any clues."

There was a chorus of affirmations of the Chunin's instructions before the clones split up to start the search. The blond turned to face Hinata, his grin still firmly in place. "So, do you think we should go to the Northern Springs Hotel to read these reports?"

The indigo-haired teen felt her blush increase a little. "S-sure."

"Alright, let's go!" He exclaimed before starting off down the street.

"O-okay," she said quickly before following after Naruto.

* * *

Kurenai was sitting at a tea shop having a relaxing cup of tea when she noticed Naruto and Hinata walking down the main street of the town. 'Good, they're here! Now I just have to shadow them without getting noticed.'

The jonin quickly finished her tea and paid her bill before exiting the tea shop and starting down the street after the two. She closed the distance between them a bit to make sure that she wouldn't lose them before ducking into an alleyway and performing a quick transformation to look like an elderly woman.

The genjutsu master exited the alleyway and continued following the two Chunin, though she was very careful not to draw attention to herself. She knew full well that Hinata's Byakugan was more than capable of seeing through her rather simple technique. Kurenai would have cast a genjutsu on them, but she didn't want to risk Hinata finding the illusion.

* * *

The two finally arrived at the hotel after stopping to ask directions. Naruto had realized that he didn't know the way after about ten minutes of searching.

"Alright! Finally! We were closer to this place than I though!" Naruto exclaimed when he got to the doors of the building. "Why couldn't that stupid old man just have told me it was around the corner instead of telling me the whole history of this place?" he grumbled as he opened the door to the obviously upscale hotel.

Hinata offered a shy, understanding smile as she entered the building.

The blond walked up to a brown haired, middle aged lady standing behind a counter. The desk attendant offered a kind smile. "Hello, and welcome to the Northern Springs Hotel. How may I help you?"

Naruto smiled back and handed the mayor's paper to the lady at the desk. "The mayor told us this was a nice place to stay."

"I'm glad that the mayor holds our hotel in such high regards. What's this?" The attendant asked curiously as she took the paper and began reading it.

"Oh! The mayor is paying for your stay here. Allow me to find you a suitable room," she said after finishing reading the paper. She flipped through a logbook on the counter and then turned to retrieve a set of keys from a try behind her. "Here you are, Uzumaki-san. You have room 204. It's the second room on the right after you go up the stairs. Please enjoy your stay!" The attendant said, smiling, as she handed Naruto two keys.

The blond took the keys with a grin. "Thanks!" He was about to turn to find the room when he paused and frowned slightly. "Wait, what about Hinata?"

The attendant seemed surprised by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Doesn't she get a room too?" He asked, confused.

The Hyuga heiress' face lit up in a blush at his comment. 'Am I going to share a room with Naruto-kun?'

The lady behind the counter was confused for a few seconds, but she quickly figured out what Naruto was asking. "Oh! I'm afraid that the mayor is only paying for one room. You'll have to pay for the second room if you want it. I'm sorry." She offered a sympathetic smile.

'I'm going to be staying in the same room as Naruto-kun!' Her blush doubled.

The blond frowned in disappointment and looked back at Hinata. "Do you want your own room, Hinata?"

Timid Hyuga slowly broke from her trance and shook her head. "I-it's f-fine, Naruto-kun."

He smiled and nodded before turning back towards the attendant. "I guess we're fine. Thanks!"

Naruto started towards the stairs to find their room. "Let's go find our room, Hinata!"

The shy teen, still a bit shell-shocked by the events, nodded and followed after her friend, her blush in full force and her thoughts still focused on the fact that she would be sharing a hotel room with Naruto. Sure, she had slept in the same tent with the blond on numerous occasions, but this was different. This was a hotel room. A place that people would see them entering and leaving together. What if someone thought that they were a couple?

Hinata's mind began spinning at that thought.

* * *

Notes: Well, that wraps up chapter 7. I hope that you all enjoyed it. Now, onto business. I'm looking for another beta-reader that is willing to spend the time to sit down and analyze my story so far and tell me what I've done right and wrong. If you are willing, please feel free to contact me. As always, I am more than happy to hear any comments, issues, or concerns you all have about my story, so feel free to leave a review or send me a PM. Have a great week!

Edited on September 11, 2011: Same as all of the others.


	8. Chapter 8:  The Search Begins

**To Teach a Fox Remake Ch 8: The Search Begins**

Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Naruto or any other currently established franchises.

Notes: Hello, all! How long has it been since I got a chapter out? Entirely too long. I have no excuses. I do apologize for the wait, and I have another, probably useless, plan to try to lessen the severity of this problem (more explanation in the ending author's notes). Oh, and this is not a crossover despite whom/what one scene may/may not include. I just hit a block and decided to goof off a bit. I ended up liking what I wrote and it fit in for the most part, so I included it into the story. I hope that this extreme belatedness does not damper your enjoyment of chapter eight. Please enjoy!

* * *

"202...204! We're here!" Naruto exclaimed when he finally arrived at the door of their hotel room. He pulled out one of the keys he had been given and quickly opened the door. The blond flipped on the light, and a grin found it's way onto his face as he glanced around the lavishly decorated room.

'This is a pretty cool room!' He glanced back at his friend in an attempt to determine what she thought of the room. "What do you think, Hinata?"

Hinata, still somewhat in a daze, took a moment to realize what Naruto had said. "Oh…um." She quickly scanned the room. It was an obviously up-scale hotel room as there was an attached bathroom, and the furniture, the most prominent of which was a single king sized bed, looked to be in great shape and of top quality. Wait, one king sized bed? Hinata's face lit up in a blush and her mind began spinning again, but she did her best to struggle out an answer despite her condition. "I-I l-like it."

Satisfied with the response, the blond's smile widened as he wandered further into the room, but that smile quickly shifted into a slight frown when he realized that there was only one bed in the room. 'Wait, what are we going to do about that? We can't sleep in the same bed…can we?'

Naruto sat his pack down next to a table and chairs as he tried to think of a solution. 'It looks big enough to hold both of us with a lot of room in between, but I don't think we should do that.' The blond ninja took a moment to try to imagine what others would think about the situation. He shuttered when he imagined what Sakura and Tsunade's reaction would be to the news that he and Hinata had slept in the same bed. 'No. We can't. I'm taking the floor.'

After making his decision, Naruto turned and pulled the deceivingly small pack of papers out of his backpack. He dropped the package on the table with a grin. "Alright! Let's get to reading!"

He glanced up at his teammate and felt his enthusiasm shift to concern. The Hyuga heiress was red in the face again, and she hadn't seemed to have heard him as she was seemingly staring off into space. "Hinata?"

Hearing her name snapped her out of her trance. Apparently realizing that she had zoned out, the timid Hyuga's blush brightened and her eyes darted to the ground. "S-sorry."

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked, concern evident in his voice.

Hinata timidly nodded once and looked up at the blond. "I'm f-fine."

'This is driving me crazy! Why does she keep getting red and acting like that?' The jinchuriki, in a futile attempt to find an answer to his questions, studied his friend for a few seconds before reluctantly accepting that he wouldn't be able to figure it out by staring at her. He opened the package of papers and reached into the small packet. The blond pulled out a large group of papers. Naruto stared at the papers for half a second in disbelief before scowling in displeasure.

"Oh, come on! How does a packet that small hold such a large stack of papers?" He asked incredulously before huffing in annoyance and unceremoniously dropped the pile of papers on the table. All the while mumbling something about a 'stupid lying packet.'

Hinata, having watched the entire event unfold, let a tiny, bashful smile find it's way onto her face. She calmly sat down in the chair nearest to her and split the first, almost menacing, stack into two smaller, much more manageable and even looking piles.

Naruto huffed once more and plopped down into the other chair next to the table as he watched his teammate divide the pile into two.

The lavender-eyed Hyuga smiled slightly when she was done and looked up at Naruto. "R-ready?"

The blond felt his annoyance melt away. He couldn't stay annoyed or angry for very long when Hinata was around. He grinned, his excitement returning. "Yep!"

The two Chunin picked up a paper from their respective stack and began reading.

* * *

After witnessing the two Chunin team enter the Northern Springs Hotel, Kurenai had started looking around for a suitable place to keep watch over the two.

The jonin smiled when she noticed a small restaurant diagonally across the street from the hotel. 'That will work great! It even has some tables outside so that I can easily keep watch over them and follow quickly if necessary. I'll just have to be careful to not draw any attention to myself.'

She slowly made her way over to the restaurant and took a seat at one of the tables outside. 'This gives me a great view of the hotel. Now I just have to figure out which rooms they're staying in.'

Kurenai's thoughts were disrupted when a waiter in his twenties walked over to her. "Excuse me, but would you like a menu?"

'If I'm going to be here often, I might as well know what they serve. Besides, it would be suspicious and rude if I didn't order anything while I'm here.' The genjutsu master thought before nodding to the man's question. "Yes, please."

The waiter smiled and handed her a menu. "Just tell me when you're ready to order."

"Thank you," Kurenai responded with a smile before she began perusing over the menu.

* * *

Iroh had been having a rough week at his tea shop, so he had decided to try out a new type of tea on his day off. He had taken up his customary position at the table next to the apartment window, looking out onto the town, and had already drank about half of a cup of the new tea.

As he was looking out of the window, contemplating how he could expand his business, the tea shop owner noticed something odd on one of the rooftops near the wall of the town. 'What's that?'

Iroh squinted in an attempt to try to get a better look. He quickly realized that what he was seeing were two cloaked figures, but they seemingly disappeared less than a second after he had come to his realization. "That was odd. Perhaps this tea is making me see things?"

The tea shop owner looked at his glass in deep thought for a few seconds before shrugging and taking another sip. He smiled in satisfaction. "This is some great tea!"

* * *

The two clone search team rocketed through the treetops in search of anything suspicious in the forest on either side of the road leading to Flat Rock Springs. They, along with the other clones Naruto had created earlier, had been searching for about forty minutes but had yet to see anything the least bit odd or seemingly out of place.

The left clone looked around and sighed in annoyance when he didn't see anything peculiar. "Why can't we find anything? I'm so bored!"

The clone on the right glanced over at the other clone and then resumed scanning the forest. "I'm bored too, but we want to finish this mission quickly, don't we?"

"Yeah, but then why isn't the original out here with us?" The left clone shot back.

"Because he's in town with Hinata looking at the reports the mayor handed us," the right clone responded, not taking his eyes off of the forest. There was a flash of movement in the periphery of his vision. His eyes immediately locked onto the source. The clone's mild excitement was crushed and replaced by disappointment when he realized that it was only a rabbit. Not exactly rare or out of place. He sighed mentally and returned to searching and listening to the other clone.

"I know, but why do we get stuck with all the boring stuff?" The left asked as he resumed scanning the surrounding area.

"Because we're not real."

Disheartened by the truth of that statement, the left clone reluctantly quieted down. "Yeah…I know."

Eight more minutes of event-less searching, and the two clones were expressing their dissatisfaction with not finding anything in sighs and random exclamations of boredom.

The right clone followed the set pattern by starting with an exasperated sigh. 'I'm so bored! I bet the original isn't this bored. He gets to hang out with Hinata.'

* * *

Naruto groaned as he finished reading another report. 'I'm so bored! I bet my clones aren't this bored. They get to be out there searching while I'm stuck in here reading.'

The blond sat the report on the completed stack. 'How many more reports do I have to read?'

He glanced at the pile in front of him to check his progress. 'I'm only about half-way? Damn it! I thought that I was getting close to being done!'

The young ninja sighed in irritation and leaned back in his chair. He sat there, staring at nothing in particular, silently cursing the existence of the paperwork in front of him. 'This mission would be so much better if I didn't have to read…and if I knew where to look.'

* * *

Hinata had heard Naruto groan and quickly looked up from the report she was reading to see what was wrong. She watched him glance at something on the table before sighing and leaning back in his chair. A small worried expression crept it's way onto her face when she realized what he was annoyed about.

The heiress shyly looked back down at the report she held, but didn't begin reading again as her mind was too preoccupied with thoughts about the blond. 'He's bored. I should have known that he would prefer to be out searching, not in here reading. He would have been much happier if I had not made that suggestion. I just wanted to spend time with him, but, I forced him to do something he dislikes in the process. I have to make this up to him.'

The indigo-haired ninja frantically began scouring her mind for something that would make up for her perceived selfishness. After a few minutes of thinking and building up courage, the young Hyuga spoke, bashfully glancing up at her teammate. "Y-you can go h-help your c-clones if you want, Naruto-kun. I can s-stay here and finish r-reading."

The team leader seemed to break from his thoughts and glance in the direction of the noise. A mixture of curiosity and confusion on his face. "Huh? What'd you say?"

Hinata felt her courage plummet and her heart begin to race when Naruto focused on her. 'He didn't hear me.' It took a few seconds for the Hyuga heiress to collect herself enough to speak again. "I c-can finish reading if y-you want to g-go help search."

The blond seemed surprised by the offer, but that surprise quickly dissolved, his signature grin taking its customary place. "Nah. I'll stay here. I only have a few more to read, and I'm not going to make you to stay here to do all this boring paperwork by yourself."

"O-oh, okay," she responded clumsily, caught off guard by Naruto's response. Hinata had expected him to rush out of the room at the first chance he got. She certainly wouldn't have blamed him if he had left. The reports weren't exactly riveting literature, and they had yet to provide any useful information for the search.

The timid Hyuga, courage faltering, shyly looked back down at the paper she had been reading, though her mind was again focused on her teammate. A tiny, hopeful smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Naruto had decided to stay despite being bored and hating paperwork. Maybe she had more of a chance than she though. If only she could tell him how she felt.

* * *

Hanako breathed a sigh of relief before she began hopping towards the hide-out. That had been a close one. A millisecond later with her transformation, and she would have been spotted by the two clones, or at least she assumed they were clones. The two could have possibly been twins, but the chance that they were clones was exponentially higher. She stuck with her first assumption.

'It looks like the town is finally getting serious about stopping the disappearances. It may be time to pack up and leave. Of course, that's only if I can convince the doctor.' Hanako shook her head. Not likely. There was as good of a chance of getting that to happen as there was of having the doctor accept help with his "project". He wasn't going to pack up and leave when he was so close to a result.

The missing nin sighed mentally. In her opinion, that man was far too stubborn when it came to anything he was working on. Everything relating to his "project" had to be perfect, and it had to be done his way or it wouldn't work or wasn't quite right and had to be done again. She couldn't argue that he produced quality results, but it still annoyed Hanako to no end.

Though Hanako did have to admit that the twenty-eight year old had quite the pleasant personality. Provided he hadn't stayed up the entire night before working on his project, and that you didn't try to tell him a better way to do something of course. She felt her face warm slightly. And it certainly didn't hurt that he was quite handsome.

Hanako scowled, or as close to it as her currently rabbit-like face could get, when she realized that she was essentially blushing. 'Damn it, I don't blush. I'm not some shy little schoolgirl!'

The missing nin did her best to squelch the feeling by telling herself that a man like him wouldn't be interested in an ungainly screw-up like her anyways. He certainly hadn't shown any interest as of yet. It worked…but not as well as she wanted. Like always, she was able to refocus on her task and crush the feeling for the time being, but the longing hope that he would finally show interest in her took it's normal place at the back of her mind, just waiting for another moment to make itself known. If only just to show her how weak she really was.

After a few minutes of hopping though the forest, Hanako finally caught sight of the hidden entrance to the hideout. She hopped up next to a large rock in the side of the mountain and scanned the forest around her for any sign of the ninja she had seen earlier. Satisfied that she had not been followed and that there was no risk of her giving the hideout's location away, the missing nin released the transformation and signed quickly. She placed her hands on the rock.

The rock's side seemed to melt away under her touch, and soon there was an entrance large enough for her to enter. The brunette quickly started down the cement hallway that had been uncovered, not at all concerned about someone seeing the entrance. To anyone that may have been watching, it would have seemed like she had just walked through solid rock.

The first time she had seen the illusion, she had been quite amazed by it. It was certainly not a beginner's genjutsu. There was also very little chance of it being discovered as it didn't create that much of a pull on the mind, even if you were looking for genjutsu.

Hanako traveled down the hallway and turned into the first door on her left. Taiki, the other missing nin that the doctor had hired, was lounging back in one of the four chairs in the room. He glanced up from the somewhat questionable magazine he was reading and looked at her. He grinned almost sleazily, showing off the fact that he was missing a few teeth. "Hey, 'Hanako-chan! Find anything interesting out there?"

"Don't call me that, and only that the town has finally gotten fed up with the disappearances and hired some ninja," she responded, trying to contain her displeasure with whom she had to work with.

Taiki didn't seem worried. He shrugged and returned to looking at his magazine. "They won't find us. Not through that genjutsu."

Hanako frowned and began crossing the room. "You're too complacent."

The missing nin shrugged again. "And you worry too much."

She ignored the comment and opened the door leading to the doctor's lab. She hoped that the doctor would be more receptive to her news. At least enough to slow down on the kidnapping until the ninja were gone.

* * *

Naruto, still a bit confused as to the reason for Hinata's rather sudden offer, watched the heiress for a little while, trying to gain some understanding of the inner workings of his friend's mind. Was it because she didn't want him around? No, that couldn't be it. If that were the case, she would have let him run off with his clones in the first place, but she had obviously suggested an idea to keep him around. Besides, she was smiling. Why would she be smiling if she didn't want him around?

He frowned in thought and sat back in his chair. Was it just because she didn't want to read all of the reports by herself? Unlikely. Why would she ask after he had only read about half of his stack? Shouldn't she have waited until he was almost done, or just let him do the entire stack altogether? No, he didn't think that she had offered to read the rest of the reports to get rid of him or kept him around just so he could read some reports. That didn't seem like Hinata at all.

Perhaps she saw that he was bored and was being kind? The blond nodded to himself. That seemed to be the most likely option. Yes, that had to be it. Hinata was kind like that. He smiled at the thought that she had been willing to read a bunch more boring reports just to let him get out of reading the rest of his. How many other people that he knew would have offered to do more work just because he was bored? Almost none. It was just one more reason why Hinata was high up on his 'precious people' list.

Come to think of it, Naruto realized that he found a new reason to like and respect the Hyuga almost every time that he saw her. She was always so pleasant, and he almost never had a bad time when she was around. His current opinion of her was definitely a far cry from what he had originally thought of her, and he was very glad of that fact. She had turned out to be one of his favorite friends.

The blond mildly wondered what his lavender clad teammate thought of him. That mild curiosity, born of a stray thought, quickly turned into a very serious question that he wanted an answer to. How did Hinata view him? He squinted slightly in thought. 'Hinata likes me, doesn't she? I mean, she usually smiles when she see's me, and she's always nice to me. Making me food and stuff like that. Yeah. She likes me. Wait, that sounds weird. She doesn't like me, like me…does she?'

That was a mind-blowing and earth shaking question for the jinchuriki. Did Hinata like him in a romantic way? He glanced, almost fearfully, up at the indigo-haired Hyuga, trying desperately to somehow find an answer to his question in her face. She was in the middle of reading a report, her face scrunched up ever so slightly in concentration. Nothing really to indicate what her feelings about him were, but he continued searching her face for a clue, any clue.

After about half a minute of analyzing his friend, Naruto's eyes shifted from her and refocused on the table in front of him. He had found no answer, no tail-tell sign that could inform him of whether or not she had a romantic interest in him. He tried to mentally laugh the idea away. Hinata, a kind, quiet main branch Hyuga, liking a noisy orphan like him? Impossible! Right?

Naruto began fidgeting in his seat. He didn't understand why, but the idea that someone other than Sakura could ever like him in that way bothered him. He had spent so much time and effort trying to gain Sakura's attention that he wasn't really sure what to do with the thought that someone was trying to do the same to him. Should he approach her? Should he let her approach him? How would he even bring up a topic like that? Just go up to her and ask her if she liked him or if she wanted to go on a date?

The blond shook his head. No. He couldn't do that. He always got punched when he asked Sakura for a date, and it just didn't seem…right to approach anyone else that way. Especially not shy, gentle and elegant Hinata.

The orange and black clad ninja tried to calm himself by taking a deep breath. It helped, but only slightly. He decided to try to figure out why he was feeling troubled. Shouldn't he be pleased by the idea that someone was interested in him?

He paused. Perhaps it wasn't the idea that someone else liked him, but the fact that he had completely ignored everyone else in his pursuit of Sakura? If he had not been so focused on Sakura, would he have noticed if someone else had feelings for him? What pain could he have inadvertently caused Hinata? Naruto felt his heart sink slightly at that thought. He believed he had his answer.

So, if he was concerned that he had caused or was causing someone some emotional pain, then shouldn't he at least try to give them a chance? Yes, but did anyone actually like him that way? He glanced back up at Hinata. More importantly, did she like him that way? How was he even supposed to tell that or not? Naruto tried to recall any information he had heard about what people usually did if they liked someone else. The only things that he could think of were what he had read in some old magazine he had found during his walk back from school one day and the things that Jiraiya had tried telling him over the two and a half years of training.

The magazine had been focused on how to have the perfect date, but it hadn't really had all that much information about what he was looking for. Jiraiya's advice, at the time, had been more confusing to him than anything, so he hadn't bothered to remember what the old sage had said.

Naruto ruffled his hair and growled in frustration with himself as he slouched back in his chair. He wasn't a genius like Shikamaru, so how was he supposed to figure something like that out on his own? The Chunin closed his eyes and tried his best to force the entire revelation out of his mind. This was no time to be thinking of who may or may not be interested in him and why. This was his first mission as a squad leader! He had to focus on it and finish it as quickly as possible, or Tsunade might not send him on any more missions as a squad leader!

The jinchuriki opened his eyes and did his best to ignore the fact that Hinata was looking up at him with a concerned expression. He picked up the first report on the stack and forced himself to read. Focusing on his mission helped, but it by no means got rid of the memory of his revelation or it's aftermath. All it did was force it to the back of his mind temporarily.

* * *

Notes: Well, there it is. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I again apologize for the length of time it took to get it out. Now, on to my plan. I have set up a, probably pointless, forum dedicated to the discussion of fanfics and keeping me on track with my update schedule (which I probably have to decide upon). Please feel free to stop by to say hello, ask a question, discuss fanfics, or metaphorically yell at me for being such a slow writer. Also, I would love to hear anything you have to say about the story so far! Have a great week!

Edited on September 11, 2011: Just did a quick read over. As always I would love to hear about anything that you think needs fixed, and feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9:  The Search Continues

To Teach a Fox Remake

Chapter 9: The Search Continues

Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Naruto.

Notes: Hey, look, one of the more rare phenomenon on this website, an update from me! Yeah…sorry. No excuses. Anyway, I hope you enjoy chapter 9!

* * *

After spending the first four hours of his day at the memorial stone, Kakashi had spent the rest of the day on the hospital's roof, reading.

Coming to the end of a paragraph, the jonin tore his eyes away from his favorite copy of Icha Icha Tactics to glance up at the sun's position. 'I should probably meet up with Sakura and tell her we won't be having any missions for a while.'

He glanced back down at his book and started to close it but stopped at the last second. He was on a particularly good chapter. It would be a shame not to finish reading it before meeting up with Sakura.

'I still have some time.' He decided, once more leaning up against the fencing that ran along the building's top.

* * *

Hanako easily maneuvered her way between the various pieces of machinery, tables, tubes and piles of paper scattered around the doctor's laboratory as she looked for her dark haired employer.

Frowning, she came to a stop in the middle of the room and glanced around. "Doctor Ito?"

Silence.

"Doctor Ito!" She called out again, louder than before.

"Yes?" Hanako fought back the urge to jump in surprise. Trying to play down the fact that she had been spooked, she turned to face the doctor. "Doctor, we have a problem."

Ito smirked in amusement at scaring a ninja, but decided not to bring it up. He nonchalantly maneuvered around the young woman and sat a small stack of papers on a nearby table before turning to face her. "Oh, and what would that be?"

"It looks like the town hired some ninja to investigate," she responded quickly, trying to distract from her recent failure.

His mouth turned down into a frown. "Are you certain that they're looking for us?"

"No, but I don't see many other reasons for them being here."

The doctor nodded and stared off into the room for a few seconds before refocusing on Hanako. "Follow them and see if you can figure out why they're here. Oh, and tell Taiki to hold off on any new abductions. Just to be safe."

Considering the situation dealt with, Ito turned back to the table and quickly scribbled down something before turning to study the nearest tube, its calm, green liquid casting a slight green hue onto his face.

The missing nin's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected this. "O-okay, but why am I the one watching them?"

The doctor glanced away from the tube. "Because you possess the skills needed to do a job like this, and because I trust you to do the job well. Don't worry, I'll make sure Taiki doesn't sit around doing nothing."

Hanako, feeling her face warm, quickly nodded. "I'll let you know when I find something."

"I know it won't take long." He smiled briefly before turning his attention to the tube.

The missing nin bowed and turned to leave, a small smile finding it's way onto her face. 'I won't fail.' She exited the laboratory and started towards the entrance to the hideout.

"What'd the doc say?" Taiki asked, not looking up from his magazine.

Hanako scowled, glancing over at the lanky man. "He said to lay off on the abductions."

That caught the ninja's attention. He looked up at her and grinned. "So sit here and do nothing? I can handle that."

She shook her head in disgust, leaving the room without another word.

* * *

"Woohoo!" Naruto ecstatically cheered, arms shooting up into the air before falling back onto the table with a light thud a second later. He had finally finished reading his half of the reports. Few things could have excited him more at that moment. His joy was so overwhelming that it temporarily made the thoughts about his recent revelation, which had plagued him ever since their origin, fade.

Startled by the outburst, Hinata jumped in her seat and worriedly looked up at the energetic blond. Quickly realizing that everything was fine, the heiress relaxed slightly, her pale lavender eyes asking the question that didn't gain the confidence to pass her lips.

Naruto, noticing that he had startled his timid teammate, began rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment as a sheepish grin found its way onto his face. "Oh, sorry, Hinata. I'm just really happy I'm done."

"It's f-fine." Hinata responded quietly, a shy smile gracing her lips.

A quick, awkward laugh escaped his lips as he looked across the table at the young Hyuga. Her pale lavender eyes immediately captured his focus, and his laugh died instantly on his lips. The previous revelation came crashing back to the forefront of his mind. The blond's eyes darted down to the table. "So, uh…did you find anything that could help?"

Hinata's smile slipped slightly at her crush's odd behavior, but she quickly focused on the question. "M-maybe. I separated a-all of m-my reports into piles b-based on where the abductions occurred. T-these," she pushed the largest pile forward slightly, "were all i-in the forest on the east side of t-town."

Distracted by the new information, the jinchuriki managed to push his revelation to the edges of his mind once more. He nodded and flipped through some of his reports, looking for their locations, before glancing back up at his teammate. "A lot of these reports are from the forest east of town too. Think we should focus on that?"

The heiress nodded. "A-at least to begin with."

Having a direction to focus his energy and mind towards, Naruto grinned and jumped up from his chair. "Awesome! We'll figure this out in no time!"

Happy to see the blond's normal energy and enthusiasm was back, Hinata smiled and stood as well. "H-how do you w-want to search?"

The energetic Chunin had been about to rush out of the room, but his teammate's question stopped him in his tracks. Confused, he looked over at his companion. "Eh? What do you mean?"

The Hyuga's eyes shot down to the ground out of embarrassment at his attention. "O-oh, um, I just w-wondered if y-you wanted to search t-together, or in d-different areas," she responded, nervously pressing her index fingers together behind her back.

Naruto's eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh! Uh…" He frowned, not sure what to do. He hadn't thought about how they would search. 'We could search together, but…' The blond didn't want to admit it, but he wasn't sure he would be able to handle searching with Hinata. Not because he didn't like her, but because of his recent revelation.

The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. Was he really going to ostracize a close friend just because he didn't know exactly how she felt about him? No. He couldn't do that to someone as nice as Hinata.

Trying to mask his internal conflict, Naruto's mouth turned up into his trademark grin. "We should search together. I'll go with you while you use your eyes, and I'll send my clones to search the other areas. That way we can cover a lot more ground."

Hinata's face lit up in a blush at the blond's response, a bashful smile working its way onto her face. "O-okay."

"Alright, let's go!" He turned to leave the room, his teammate following close behind.

* * *

Kurenai watched as Naruto and Hinata left the hotel. Having seen the power of the Byakugan many times, the Jonin knew better than to follow the two out on their search. Instead, she waited until she was absolutely sure that the two were out of the town before making her move.

Playing upon her strength, she entered the hotel lobby and cast a simple genjutsu on the attendant that made it seem as though Kurenai was not there.

Quickly crossing the room, she wasted no time in looking at the hotel's room register. 'Room 204.' The jonin cataloged that information for later as she left the hotel just as quickly as she had entered. Once out of the building, she released the genjutsu.

'Alright, so they're staying on the second floor,' the ninja thought as she made her way down the road, looking for another hotel. 'That makes things a bit more difficult, but, then again, it was never going to be easy in the first place.'

* * *

Sakura sighed in relief as she felt fresh air dance across her face. She loved working in the hospital, but the still, sterile airflow grated on her nerves after a while.

Glad to be done with hospital work for the day, the medic basked in the sun's warmth for a few more seconds before turning to leave. She had to meet up with the rest of her team and check in with Tsunade, if for nothing more than just to make sure they weren't needed.

It didn't take Sakura more than a couple minutes to get to the agreed upon meeting spot, a small bridge that crossed a small stream near the middle of town. Neither of her teammates were there, but that didn't surprise her. Kakashi was never on time, and Naruto didn't have the greatest track record with being on time either.

Sighing in mild annoyance, Sakura meandered onto the bridge and leaned against the railing. Looking out over the trickling water, she thought back to the last time the entirety of Team 7 had met there. It had been only a few days before Kakashi had told them about the Chunin Exams.

Her mouth twitched upwards. It was one of her fonder memories of Team 7, but not because anything spectacular had happened. On the contrary, it had been a completely ordinary day. She had been fangirling over Sasuke while he insulted Naruto, who had somehow fallen into the water. Kakashi had arrived a few seconds later, offering one of his obvious lies before promptly being yelled at by Naruto and herself.

Her smile solidified. The good old days.

A humorless laugh escaped her lips. It had happened a little less than four years ago, and she was labeling it as 'the good old days.' She shook her head in mild amusement. It was amazing to her how those four years had managed to feel like ten to twenty.

So engrossed in her memories, Sakura had failed to notice that neither of her teammates had shown up yet.

* * *

Finishing another set of paperwork, Hiashi sat his pen down and began massaging his forehead in an attempt to curb his growing headache. He let out a sigh as he glanced down at his desk. He was done. For the moment.

Feeling the need to leave his office and stretch his legs, the clan head slowly stood and left the room. He didn't have anywhere in particular he wanted to go, so he just picked a direction and started walking.

It mildly amused him when he later found himself looking out into one of the many outdoor training grounds in the compound. But finding a training ground wasn't what was amusing to him. It was the fact that it was the training ground where his second daughter, Hanabi, regularly trained. 'I've been so focused on Hinata and her situation for the past few days that I've barely spoken to Hanabi. I wonder if she knows about the current situation.'

"Oto-san."

Hiashi fought back a smile as he turned to his youngest daughter. He studied her. She was still bowing and it was doubtful that she would raise before being addressed. Her hair was long, but meticulously well taken care of. Her clothing was loose to allow a wide range of movement, though not so much so that it would be considered baggy. Rather plain, perhaps stemming from the fact that it had so little color. Much like himself, she was a slave to tradition. Exactly why the Hyuga Council wanted her to be the heir over her older sister. "Ah, Hanabi. Would you care for a spar?"

"Hai, Oto-san," the young Hyuga responded, almost robotically, as she stood. As he watched his daughter walk onto the training field, the clan head wondered just how much he was at fault for her behavior.

Pushing those thoughts away, he, too, entered the field and took up a position opposite of her. After bowing to each other, they both fell into perfect forms of the Gentle Fist stance.

Hiashi studied Hanabi's form. 'Excellent form, as always. Let us see if she has gotten any better.'

He made the first move, sending a swift jab towards her torso. She blocked it and returned one of her own.

The clan leader blocked it effortlessly and shot off another jab. Hanabi blocked and counterattacked.

They continued that way for a while, progressively getting faster and faster until one of Hiashi's strikes landed and knocked the young Hyuga back.

After recovering, she moved to return to the fray, but was stopped by Hiashi. "That's enough, Hanabi."

She hesitated briefly before bowing. "Hai, Oto-san."

"Excellent work, Hanabi. You have progressed very far. Continue like this and you will master the Gentle Fist in record time," he said after returning the bow and making his way over to the hall to sit down.

"Thank you, Oto-san," she responded mechanically, though the clan head could see happiness at the praise dance briefly in her eyes. His mouth twitched upward as she sat down next to him. All eyes, even the fabled Byakugan, gave clues to a person's emotions if one knew what to look for.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Hiashi, knowing that she would not break the silence first, spoke.

He glanced down at his youngest daughter. "How have your last few days been, Hanabi?"

"Fine, Oto-san. Training is going well, and academy work is easy."

He nodded as he continued to watch her out of the corner of his eye. He knew she wanted to ask him something. It was only a matter of time now that he had spoken first. "Good."

Another prolonged silenced threatened to settle in between the two, but was broken by Hanabi. "Oto-san?"

Hiashi's mouth twitched upwards once more. She had broken down faster than he had expected. "Yes?"

She looked over at him. "Is it true that the Council is pressing you to name your heir?"

'Ah, so she does know.' The clan head nodded once more. "It is true. The Council has made their stance on the matter clear and are getting impatient for my decision."

The young Hyuga looked back out over the training field. "I see."

"Are you not concerned as to what will happen?" Hiashi asked, prodding her for her thoughts on the matter while carefully scrutinizing her every move in an attempt to gain insight to her true feelings.

She glanced up at him again, doing her best to mask her emotions with the famed Hyuga composure. "What will happen, will happen."

He raised an eyebrow at his daughter's response and looked down at her. "How much time have you spent around Neji recently?"

Hanabi's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "Very little. Why? Am I not allowed to be around him?"

"No, you are allowed to be around him as often as you would like. I was merely curious," the clan leader responded, shifting his gaze back out onto the training field. "Would you care for another round?"

"Hai, Oto-san."

* * *

Kakashi laughed to himself as he finished reading a chapter of his book. 'Gets me every time. Jiraiya, how do you come up with these things?'

He smiled happily behind his mask, eager to start the next chapter despite the fact that he had already read the book numerous times over.

The copycat was so completely engrossed in his book that he had completely forgotten about the meeting with his student.

* * *

Finally turning her mind away from all of the fond memories she had of Team 7, Sakura glanced around the meeting spot and frowned. 'They're still not here? What time is it? Did I get the time wrong?'

The medic pulled a small watch out of her pack and glanced at the time to find that, not only had she been on time, but it was now a full hour past when they had agreed to meet up. She put the watch back in her pack with a scowl, her temper flaring up.

'It's been a full hour since the meeting time. I expected this from Kakashi, but Naruto too? If he was going to wait until later to come he should have told me so I wouldn't be standing here by myself, looking like an idiot!' Her hands balled up in anger. 'When he gets here, he's so dead.'

* * *

A passing shadow caught the silver haired ninja's attention. He glanced up. 'Just a standard messenger hawk. Doesn't look like it's for me.'

Kakashi refocused on his book, trying to find where he had left off. 'I wonder how Naruto's mission is going.'

His visible eye widened in fear. 'Oh crap, I forgot about Sakura!'

Realizing his mistake, Kakashi wasted no time in closing his book and slipping it in his pack. He ducked down to pick up an object next to him before disappearing in a cloud of smoke and leaves. 'I hope she's not too mad.'

A few seconds later the copy cat appeared in a tree near to the designated meeting spot. Not wanting to barge into a possibly volatile situation blind, he looked out from behind a branch.

Seeing Sakura's clenched jaw and tense fists, Kakashi instantly regretted finishing that last chapter. He sighed. 'Well, it was my fault, and Naruto isn't here to be the scapegoat for her wrath this time. Might as well get this over with. Now, which excuse am I going to use this time?'

After spending the better part of two minutes deciding upon a suitable excuse, he jumped out of the tree and landed next to his hotheaded student.

She immediately turned on him, sending him her best death glare. Which, he had to admit, was pretty damn effective.

"Your late," she stated in an scarily calm voice.

Kakashi inwardly flinched. Her calm anger was much more frightening than her normal raging anger. He raised his unburdened hand in submission. "Sorry, sorry. I got a little sidetracked picking these," he said, rising the basket of fruit and vegetables in his left hand slightly. He paused briefly before weakly offering the basket as a peace offering. "Want some?"

She continued to glare at him, obviously not buying his excuse. "No."

"Right…" The masked man lowered the basket and quickly began speaking again, not wanting to see what would happen if he gave his student a chance to steer the conversation. "Well, since Naruto got sent on a mission with Hinata yesterday, we're being sidelined until he gets back. So that means no missions for about a week. Or two."

Sakura's fists tightened. "You made me stand here by myself for over an hour to tell me THAT?"

"Uh…yeah," he drew out, trying to buy time to figure out how to get out of his current situation.

"I'll find you when he's back. See you in a few days!" He smiled and waved, disappearing in a cloud of smoke and leaves before Sakura could bring him bodily harm.

Kakashi let out a breath of relief when he reappeared. 'That was a close one.'

A scream of anger pierced the air, causing him to glance in its direction. 'I need to be more careful when Naruto's not around. I could really get hurt.'

Not having anything else to do for the day, he decided to head back to his apartment and finish reading his book for the umpteenth time.

* * *

Tsunade watched as the setting sun cast spectacular red and orange hues across the forested horizon. Unfortunately, she just couldn't enjoy it as much as she usually did. There was too much on her mind. Too many things that she couldn't control.

With a huff, the Hokage swiveled her chair around and looked down at her miraculously clean desk. She didn't have anything left to do for the day as she had finished the last of her paperwork an hour ago, much to Shizune's continued amazement.

She gave her office a once-over, making sure, for the fifth time in the last eight minutes, that she had finished all of her work. A scowl settled on her face. 'This waiting around for something to happen is driving me crazy.'

There was a knock on the door. "What is it?" The blond snapped.

Shizune edged into the room. "Is everything alright, Tsunade-sama? You've been a bit tense all day. Is something bothering you?"

Knowing she shouldn't hide the situation from her assistant, the Hokage sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Yeah, this damn situation with the Hyuga."

The med nin frowned slightly. She hadn't heard anything about a situation with the Hyuga. "What do you mean?"

The blond sighed wearily and started explaining. "You know that I sent Naruto and Hinata on a mission together, correct?"

Shizune nodded.

"Well, after they left, Hiashi Hyuga stopped by with Kurenai. He told me that the situation in the Hyuga was more tense than we knew and that any sort of relationship between the two might plunge the clan into chaos. Hiashi says that he's done everything he can, but he won't be able to stop things from spiraling out of control."

The assistant let out a tiny gasp. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Tsunade shrugged. "Not that I know of. That's partially why I accepted the request to re-catalog the records room, in hopes that it will turn up something we can use."

Shizune nodded in understanding. "Alright. I'll go through all of the laws and see if there's anything that can help. In the meantime, you should get some rest, Tsunade-sama. Worrying like this isn't going to help anyone."

The blond reluctantly agreed. "Thank you, Shizune, and you're right. I'll head to my room in a few minutes."

Glad that she could help her longtime mentor, the medic smiled and turned to leave. "Goodnight, Tsunade-sama."

"Night." The Hokage swiveled her chair around to face out the window once more. Somewhat relieved now that Shizune was in the loop, she sat in silence for a few minutes before following her assistant's advice and leaving to turn in early for the night.

* * *

Hinata came to a graceful stop on a low hanging branch, despite the deteriorating light. Her bloodline trait flared to life, and she immediately began scanning her surroundings.

With her nearly 360 degree vision, she could see Naruto on a branch behind her, silently waiting for the results of her search. He had been uncharacteristically quiet since they had left the hotel. It worried her. Was it because of something she had done?

Returning her mind to the mission, the heiress meticulously scanned the forest around them for anything out of the ordinary. Once done, she frowned slightly. Nothing. Again. She glanced over at the blond, more out of habit than anything else, and shook her head. "N-nothing."

Hinata felt horrible when she saw Naruto's expression fall. He let out a sigh of exasperation before slowly turning around. She knew that he had really wanted to finish the mission that day, but they had seen nothing so far and night was too quickly creeping upon them. It wouldn't be long before it was too dark for either of them to see. "Alright. Let's head back. We can start again tomorrow."

"O-okay," the Hyuga responded quietly. She hated seeing Naruto so crestfallen. It made her feel like she had failed him. If only she could have searched faster, farther.

Hinata followed silently after her crush, vowing to work harder the next day. She would help Naruto finish the mission quickly, even if she had to push herself past her limits to do it.

* * *

Notes: So ends the first day of searching. Naruto and Hinata don't have much to show for it, but it's alright. I'm sure they'll find something eventually.

Another chapter filled with things on the home front. Hopefully no one gets to mad at me for that, and hopefully everyone was in character. I promise that the next chapter will focus more on Naruto and Hinata.

As always, I would love to hear what you all think! If anyone sees anything that is a bit awkward, repetitious, wrong, or odd, please tell me! Also, please beat me upside the head, figuratively or literally, if I get any of the character's characterization wrong.

Also, I have a new poll up on my profile. It pertains to events in my other story, For One More Chance. You can either vote for Kakashi to save Rin or for him to arrive just a little to late. Whichever gets the most votes will be what happens in the story, so vote now and decide Rin's fate!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Edited on September 11, 2011: Just a quick glance over, and just a few things changed.


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